We're Engaged! | Getting Hitched
Photos by Cast + Forge Photography
Jared and I are so excited to share the *OFFICIAL* news that we’re engaged!!
… And boy, what a memory it will be!
Jared had me FOOLED. A few weeks before his graduation from his college IT program, he asked his mom to help throw me off by telling me that she reserved a picnic shelter at one of our favorite nearby parks and would be hosting a “surprise graduation party” there for him on the evening of his graduation after the ceremony.
Of course, being the great girlfriend (now fiancé!) that I am, I quickly sprung into action inviting all of his best friends and family. He was a step ahead of me, asking our friend Lauren to casually ask about who all I was inviting so he could warn them and get them to play along! He still invited them, but informed them that it would be more of an engagement party than a grad party.
Now, here’s where the true comedy of errors comes into play: A week before this, I contracted some sort of awful viral illness, perhaps COVID but no one knows because the doctors at urgent care failed to give me a PCR test (I’m still a little salty). And sadly, I was in the middle of battling awful bronchitis that left me easily fatigued and miserable each day. As an extra cherry-on-top surprise: Our friend Lauren contracted COVID and tested positive that morning (not to mention, our photographer had just finished her own quarantine!). I pulled myself together and managed to attend Jared’s graduation ceremony, as well as continue to rally into the evening to pull off this “surprise party”.
We were preparing to leave and take some graduation photos at the park’s beach (the distraction to get me to the beach without me asking questions!) when Jared came out of the bathroom, looked me up and down and said: “I think you should change… I really think you should change.”
I knew what was about to go down in that moment. I had planned my ideal proposal outfit and it was sitting in my closet anxiously awaiting the big day (as you know, the engagement wasn’t a surprise for us - I picked my ring and was heavily involved in the process as most longterm partners are nowadays). I wanted Jared to be able to plan the proposal and have the magic of his day’s surprise, but I also knew I wanted to feel confident in the outfit I wore and knew that I would be aware that the proposal was about to happen as soon as he or Lauren told me to change into that outfit.
I began to cry. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go. There was NO WAY he would propose the same day as his graduation, that’s insane - so much is happening and he deserves to celebrate himself on this huge day of accomplishment. And, I’m sick! I’m hacking up a lung, about to pass out from exhaustion, now I have to kiss him (hopefully no longer contagious), and our best friend now has COVID and can’t even be there to celebrate with us. I felt so defeated, but I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. This would happen to us.
I ran and changed into my outfit, wiped away my tears, reapplied my lipstick, and hopped into the car. When we arrived at the park, our friend Mandy was there to grab my vlog camera and fill in for Lauren’s initial video job. Little did I know, they had coordinated on FaceTime earlier to decorate the picnic shelter with beautiful flowers, candles, and prints of photos of Jared and I throughout our 9 years of dating. Jared’s amazing mom Angela also went above and beyond ordering dozens of sandwiches from our favorite local sub shop Meconi’s, and grabbing drinks and so much more for us and the guests to come.
Jared and Mandy led me down to the beach where I stood around confused for a while until Jared got his bearings, finally got down on one knee and popped the question. Our photographer Sydney leapt out of the forest where she had been discreetly hiding to capture the big moment. For a second, I was afraid Jared might’ve cancelled our proposal shoot due to her recent prognosis, but as soon as he opened the ring box, all I could hear behind me was *click… click… click!*. Phew… I was so relieved.
As we made our way up to the picnic shelter where friends and family awaited us, we FaceTimed my mom and dad who couldn’t be there due to my dad’s recent hip surgery. Then, Jared pulled me aside privately (with Sydney capturing the intimate moment). He said there were some people who couldn’t make it but wanted to say a few words - he played a video with messages from nearly all of my best friends throughout the years… and you can probably imagine: I lost it.
I know all of my little worries were such privileged worries to get to have, and none of the mishaps really would’ve mattered at the end of the day so long as we had each other and this special day. However, the attention to detail that Jared managed to pull off in the end while also completely throwing me for a loop was impressively thoughtful. In the midst of so much misfortune, all of the imperfections actually turned out pretty damn perfect, and now we will have quite the story to tell! An immensely huge THANK YOU to our loved ones for making us feel so loved. We are beyond lucky and grateful to know and love you, too. xo
You can view the proposal in action and hear us recount the story in my weekly vlog, timestamp 18:29 below:
About the Couple
We’re Jared and Kathryn - Olympia, Washington natives that have dated since April 2013 (nearly a decade in, baby!) and have lived together a majority of those years as well. Jared is launching into his career in IT, and Kathryn is the owner of a freelance content marketing agency serving clients across the country. Together we’re tech nerds, Pacific Northwest travelers, the ultimate foodies, and drag show lovers. We’re so excited to share our wedding journey with you + hope to provide some insight that helps you along the way!
