Picking a Date

As I shared on Facebook last week, Al and I picked a wedding date!!! 😍

When we got engaged, we started thinking about what dates would work for us and be special to us. However, we didn't want to get our hearts set on a date until we were able to find a reception venue. From the time we realized we wanted to spend our lives together, we knew we would get married at our home church, Jennies Branch. That's where we officially met and where our relationship really blossomed. The trouble was finding a reception venue in the area that was close to the church and would hold the number of people we are planning to have. Our options were very few because we do have a lot of people we are inviting. So I started looking into the couple of places we had to choose from and wasn't super impressed with any of them. Then, I remembered a place that is still fairly new and would definitely accommodate our large guest list. I went through the process of contacting the right people and ended up talking to a family friend, who just so happens to be the event coordinator of this venue. It was truly a God send the way finding this place happened. After a good conversation and learning that it can meet all of our desires and needs, we booked this venue within less than an hour! The best part about this whole thing was that the whole month we were looking at to get married in was open for this venue, so we got the choose the date we had been eyeing since our engagement last month!

Al and I will officially become husband and wife on March 3, 2018, and we could not be more excited!!! We are so thankful for the hand of God orchestrating things the way He sees best in our lives! We can't wait to keep the planning rolling! Stay tuned for the next big thing on our to-do list: Asking our wedding party :)

P.S. Had to share our favorite thing about our wedding date - the double numbers:

Our anniversary date is 08.08.11
Our engagement date is 10.16.16
Our wedding date will be 03.03.18


Xoxo,
Morgan

The Beginning of Forever

For those of you who have been absent from social media for the past few days...

AL AND I GOT ENGAGED!!!

We were well-aware that this news would not come as a surprise to anyone, but we didn't realize how many people were anxiously awaiting our engagement and were thrilled to share in our excitement with us! I knew once we got engaged, I was going to start blogging again simply to document this special time in our lives. I want us to look back in 20+ years and still be able to relive these moments as if they just happened yesterday. I hope those of you reading this will enjoy following along on our journey to becoming husband and wife; we can't wait to share it with you!

To start, our proposal story:

On Saturday the 15th, Al told me that he was really craving Olive Garden salad (this is a frequent occurrence in our lives) and asked if I wanted to go on Sunday after church. I obviously said yes because who turns down the OG? So we made those plans, and Sunday was shaping up to be a normal day for the two of us. 

That morning neither of us got up for church (oops), but we still wanted to go to Olive Garden. So Al got in my car and started driving, and instead of turning left onto 17 to head towards North Myrtle, he turned right. I asked him where we were going, and he told me I had to get gas. That was the truth, so I didn't think much of it. He pumped my gas, got back in my car, and asked me if we could go to the park first because he hadn't seen it since the hurricane... 

[Side Note: Sunset Beach Park has become a special place to us because it's where we go to Eno and talk about life. It's also my favorite place in all of Brunswick County because it is so beautiful. We spend a lot of time there, so him wanting to see it after the hurricane was not weird.]

...so I responded in typical, Morgan fashion, "I mean I am kind of hungry, but I guess so." So we drove to the park and were walking around looking at all the debris that had mostly been cleaned up. We were talking about the tree that fell on me (never gonna live that one down) and were picking out trees that would've been better to Eno on. We made our way down to the water and were just talking about nonsense, and then Al grabbed both my hands and turned me to face him. This is when I knew what was happening. The only thing I remember him saying was, "Babe..." and then I'm pretty sure I blacked out. At some point I asked him to hold my phone because I didn't want to be holding it in my hand, and then he continued with what he had prepared to say, and before I knew it, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him!!!

I said yes, and he put the most beautiful ring ever on my finger, and as soon as we started hugging, I heard cheers and whistles coming out of the woods. I looked up and his family, my family, and my best friend were all running down the hill to us! They were all so excited, and I was equally excited and in disbelief. My sister's boyfriend Khyne had been taking pictures the whole time and took some more of us with our families - pictures I will truly cherish forever.

We stayed and talked at the park for a bit, and then Al said that we were going to go to Olive Garden if anyone wanted to join us. Of course everyone wanted to join us, and we were thrilled to have them with us to celebrate. We drove down to the restaurant, and as soon as I walked in all my friends from home and Wilmington were standing in the doorway waiting to hug me! I was so surprised and honored that they wanted to drive down to celebrate that day with us. It meant the world to me and made me realize even more how much God has blessed me with wonderful family and friends.

Al put so much thought and preparation into that day for me, and it was everything I had been dreaming of for so many years. On October 16, 2016, I made the easiest decision I've ever made by saying yes to becoming his wife. I am still in shock, and I don't think it has sunk in for either of us yet, but we are so excited for what this journey holds for us. I can't wait to share more of it with you as the wedding plans start to unfold. In the meantime, be praying with us and for us that God will continue to prepare our hearts to be the spouses He created us to be. We are trusting in His plans for our lives together and following where He leads!

Photo credit for most pictures: Khyne Daniels at kdanielsphotography