Mike and I met through a mutual friend in grade 12 when I invited said friend over to my parent’s house and he brought Mike along.

I remember thinking how cute and mysterious he was with his hood sitting atop of his blonde spiked hair.

Somehow I got my hands on his Blackberry and I discovered his once hidden love for Taylor Swift (he no longer loves swifty). This made me like him even more!

Over the next few weeks of Spring Break we quickly became inseparable and haven’t left each other’s side since. We quickly discovered similar interests in movies, Laguna Beach and Pizza. You could say it was love at first slice.

Now, 8 years later, Mike and I happily own our first home and have 2 furbabies, Bubba & Memphis.

Being in the wedding planning industry, I’ve always dreamed of the day that I would get engaged, like any other girl. Every weekend I would spend my time creating happily ever afters for my amazing clients and every weekend I would add more to my pinboard of ideas that I loved. I truly have the best job ever! I had a fairly good idea of how it would happen, but I never expected what happened on February 27, 2016.

About 3 years ago, Mike began working out of town for long periods of time. At first, it worked really well for our relationship. But after three years of not waking up to each other every day, we decided that our relationship was more important than any amount of money or job.

Shortly after he stopped travelling, we seriously began discussing marriage. Now don’t get me wrong, I have been discussing it for about 5 years now- but something was different about it this time.

Mike and I know each other inside and out, and that’s why Mike did not like the idea of being solely responsible for my engagement ring (I am a little…selective…). At first, I thought that being involved in the process would kill any chance of surprise and romance. I was very wrong! Together we began the search for the perfect ring. We quickly ended up meeting Pam at Lanka Jewelers. With her help and advice we decided on a gorgeous custom-made Noam Carver ring. The process brought us closer, it was a fun and personalized experience working with our designer and in the end Mike knew that I would love the design!

Now, when we put the deposit on the ring, she quoted us 3-4 weeks. I ever so eagerly counted down to these weeks. Not to mention keeping this from pretty much everyone I love was extremely difficult, but kind of fun.

Fast forward three weeks; no ring and Mike was given another opportunity to work out of town for a week. I reluctantly agreed.

Fast forward another week; still no ring. I grew more impatient by the second, so I begged Mike to call Pam at Lanka Jewellers and see where the heck my beloved ring was. BAD NEWS: it’s not expected for another two weeks.

Fast forward a few days later, Mike leaves for work and I am dealing with it the best way I can; keeping busy.

My ever-so-lovely boss, Stephanie, suggested we do a site visit at The Permanent as we had just received an inquiry for a wedding there. Not to mention I am completely obsessed with this venue. She also made an appointment for us to get our nails done at our local favourite salon, Joyride, as I had let her in on my little secret. We both hoped that the manicure would last a few weeks until Mike returned. We also planned for our monthly SHE team meeting to take place afterwards. My calendar was filling up quickly with “business” appointments so my mind was completely distracted from what was to come.

February 27, 2016 comes around and it is the day of the nail appointment and site visit. I wake up and am just not having it with that day. My hair isn’t cooperating, nothing is fitting properly and I am grumpy. Mike is texting me asking what I am wearing and giving me ideas. I finally change into one of his suggestions, my blue and white floral print dress (still feeling grumpy at this point).

At this point I head downtown to meet with Steph.

We hit up Joyride to get our nails done and quickly head over to the Permanent for our small viewing window as they had an event booked that day. We are on time (go us!), quickly park and begin the walk over to the venue.

When we arrive, Stephanie knocks on the front door and I quickly tell her “Oh, just go on in”.

She opens the grand wooden doors…

Check back Thursday morning at 8am for the rest of my love story! I can’t wait to share it with you!