'Wedding Wednesdays'-Series 1-Our engagement story

Welcome to my first post for my brand new feature here on Happy Distractions  'Wedding Wednesdays'! I thought the perfect way to kick-start this off was to share with you all our engagement story. Where, when and how it happened, the lead-up to it and the aftermath. I love hearing other people's engagement stories. Each and everyone is unique and magical for the couple sharing their story and that's the beauty of it.

Where it all began... 
Myself and Steve have been together for 11 years this coming September (a pretty long time yes)! We met in college on the last ever day there. Yes, Steve waited till the very last day of our collage lives to introduce himself and come and say 'hi'! We were both on completely different courses-I was studying interior design and he was studying engineering, yet somehow he noticed me within the communal areas that everyone could use. 
He was so shy at first bless him and I was definitely Little Miss Chatterbox (I still am most of the time), but the more we went on dates and spent time together, the more he came out of his shell. Our first date at the tender age of 18 was at TGI Fridays. I remember I ordered a chicken Caesar salad even though I was dying for a hamburger! I was a typical teenage girl, over thinking and over stressing what a boy would think of me, pigging out on the first date with a  bacon cheeseburger and curly fries. These days it's safe to say I don't care or think at all of the food I eat of in front of him and we both enjoy our food and cooking together.

Fast forward the proposal!
8th July-10.35pm
We had decided to go away for a few days and let our hair down and relax, after moving into our new house. We had both always wanted to go to Bath which was a bout a 3 hour drive from our home, so packed our bags, took along our road-trip candy and play list and set off on a little adventure of fun, relaxation and time away together.
Bath was not a disappointment at all. If you have never been before, I highly recommend it. Especially if you adore architecture like I do, history, quaint and unique places to eat and the idea of relaxing in the amazing UK's only natural thermal spa. 
We decided two nights and 3 full days was enough time away for a mini-break and made sure to cram in as much as we could. We visited cocktail bars underground in amazing hidden spaces, did the walking tour through some of the most historical areas of the City (including seeing sites from the wonderful Jane Austin novels) and experienced the most breath-taking views of the city, in glorious sunshine, from the relaxing roof top natural thermal Spa at Thermae Spa Bath. 
On our last evening there, we had gone to a lovely and very delicious Tapas restaurant and enjoyed dinner and red wine over romantic candlelight. I remember fondly us talking about our time in Bath and how amazing it had been and how we would love to come back etc. We then decided to walk back to our gorgeous and very beautifully decorated B&B under the stars and moonlight. I remember it was such a clear night and the prefect end to our last day in Bath...or so I thought!
We got back to our room with it's beautiful setting and just as I had taken all my make-up off and slipped into my Hello Kitty PJ's (lovely right)?!-the mood changed very quickly and Steve went from being his normal chatty, calm, laid-back self, to being a bag of nerves and from the look of his face, like he had something major to tell me! I remember him saying 'Claire I have been meaning to talk to you about something and kept trying to find the perfect time'....I honestly didn't have a clue at this stage what he was trying to say! He then went on to say he'd spent the past 2 days as we wondered around Bath thinking about it and trying to decide when and where, but there had always been too many people around (he knows a fear of mine is anything that could happen in public to me as a surprise. I hate the idea of a public proposal, surprise in public, flash mobs....oh God)! As he begun to say this and come closer to me, where at this point, I am sitting on our lovely massive bed, about to boot my iPad up to get Netflix ready for us with a bottle of red and chocolate buttons may I add-I started to get a feeling he was about to ask me something pretty big and pretty amazing...!
He then got down on one knee and from his back pocket on his trousers, pulled out a little white box...the perfect size for....yes, a RING! I was honestly starting to shake with excitement and nerves as Steve slowly opened the box and told me how happy I made him, how much he loved me, how proud he was of me and would I do the honour of being his wife?-(Extra brownie points for saying my full name when he asked)! Well, I couldn't quite believe what was staring back up at me from this little white box. The most BEAUTIFUL ring I had ever laid my eyes on. It sparkled and glistened in all it's glory, willing me to put it on and complete this romantic, magical, yet very comfortable and natural moment. 

*The ring is platinum with diamonds around the band and the stone is an Aquamarine set with diamonds all the way around*

For personal reasons to keep some elements of this wonderful moment private, I will not discuss the whole thing and what Steve exactly said, but he made me so happy and proud and I just shouted 'YES' after lots of nervous and happy giggles and 'OH MY GOD IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING'?! 
A few minutes later, we were quick to jump on FaceTime and speak to my parents and sister and Steve's mum. They all knew of course and bless Steve, he had asked my dad's permission a week or so before we went and told him the plan and everything about the ring etc. I know not everyone is bothered if their partner asks a parent's permission first but it was always really important to me. I am so close to my family and they adore Steve and have great respect for him, so my dad especially really appreciated him taking the time to pay him a visit and ask him. Especially as I am his first daughter to get married, I really think it touches a dads heart in ways us daughters may not always quite understand.
The next day we called the rest of our family and friends and it never once got boring or dull saying the same thing 'I'm engaged'!! over and over again. How could it?! It's probably the best and most exciting phone call I have ever made in my life and I will always cherish those moments and calls with loved ones :)
We then drove back to Essex, already planning our dream wedding and discussing ideas, what we liked, don't like, what needed to be done etc....we don't hang around in planning I can tell you that! We popped into my parent's on the way home and my mum had the champagne ready and an engagement card and balloon bless her. It was such a lovely time and the first few days of being engaged seemed like a fairytale whirlwind and we were in a bit of a lovely daze.

*A bit of a  blurry but natural shot of us celebrating after our drive home at my parent's house*

Apologies this has been quite a wordy and long post, but I felt it was important and also a nice way to share our story and a great way to launch my new feature. I really hope you enjoyed hearing parts of our engagement story and would absolutely LOVE to hear yours down below in the comment box.

See you next Wednesday for more wedding talk! ;)