A Veteran's Day Honor :: Featured

Happy Veteran's Day, Friends! Today I'm thankful for the incredible men and women who have sacrificed so much to give us this beautiful nation we call home. I am blessed to be able to call some of these individuals friends and I am genuinely in awe of their selfless desire to fight for our country. We are protected by a truly wonderful collection of military personnel.

For this reason it is such an overwhelming honor to have been featured today on two different wedding blogs recognizing our courageous veterans. A few images from Adam and Karin's day after session can be found on the new {and ohmygosh so fabulous} Washington DC wedding blog, United with Love. I am so bummed we are moving away from the area just as United with Love is launching. I know this blog is going to do great things!

And I cannot express just how humbling it is to say that the second feature of the day is on the Southern Weddings Blog. Less than a year ago I was the bride planning my own wedding and checking Southern Weddings on a twice daily basis. To be featured on this site on any day of the year would, simply put, be an absurd excitement. But to be featured on a day that is so dear to both my heart and our home truly means the world. In a word, Joe and Jill's engagement was surreal and I use all sincerity when saying that I was the lucky one to be part of such a day.

Tonight I'm cyber-hugging all of you amazing people who have so selflessly served our country. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. It is because of you that I sleep so safely at night.

Michelle

An All American Proposal :: Engagements

When Joe left the house on Saturday morning, Jill was under the impression her beau would only be gone for a half hour or so. She began making breakfast, french toast, but was soon stopped by the knock at the front door. When she opened the door to find her neighbor standing with a red rose and a card, the confusion set in. After being told she had an hour to get ready, Jill headed out to the nearby lake where she was to find rose - and clue - number two. After a row boat ride across the lake and an obstacle course challenge, she was given her second rose by Joe's fellow Marine before being directed to the National Marine Corps Museum. It was here that Jill realized she needed to prepare her mind, and her body, for the marathon she was about to begin. What she thought was a quick trip to the lake had now turned into a day full of physical challenges, relationship trivia, and lots and lots of roses. From the museum Jill was sent to the Kennedy Center, the White House, the Haupt Fountains, the Washington Monument, the Starbucks on H Street, the Korean, WWII, and Vietnam memorials, and then, finally, the Lincoln Memorial. If you lost count, that makes twelve roses, twelve challenges, and twelve Marines in their dress blues that Jill had to find.

If you haven't had the chance to experience a man in uniform in public, you should know that they draw quite the crowd. During the two and a half hours we were waiting for Jill to find her roses, the boys had little more than a five minute break from tourist after tourist asking for pictures.

Good thing the tourists were pretty cute.

This is Jill at the Vietnam memorial being asked to correctly answer how many children Joe wanted.

Internet World, the following picture is proof that we have seriously brave men fighting for our country. In the off chance you're blind and reading my blog, that's a big audience.

She said YES!

This is Joe. He's handsome.

And this is Jill. She's gorgeous.

And then there were toasts.

Jill, I know you had absolutely no part in planning this beautiful adventure of a day so I'll have to take this moment to thank Joe for letting me be part of his amazing plan. I feel so honored to have been able to document such an unforgettable moment and I cannot thank you enough for letting me come along. Congrats on your engagement and welcome to wonderful world of wedding planning!

Michelle