Jul 19, 2014

Erica + Joseph Married

Ceremony: Holy Name of Jesus Church 
Reception: Chateau Country Club 
Hair: Suzette Stuprich at Up'sa Daisy 
Makeup: Whitney Lowe at Up'sa Daisy 
Flowers: Bella Blooms 
Cake: Swiss Confectionery 
Videographer: Carriage Films 
Reception Music: The Bucktown All-Stars 
Wedding Dress: Maggie Sottero 
Rolls Royce: Luxe Limousines 
Limo Bus: American Luxury 
Honeymoon Destination: Sandals LaSource Grenada 
Where couple will reside: Slidell, Louisiana 
Couple's occupations: He is a Senior Naval Architect and she is a Graphic Designer  
 
How we met (according to the bride): 
Joseph and I met in May of 2010 at Redeye Grill. I was dancing up on this little bench thing along the wall where only girls were allowed to be (and it was the only place where you could find a/c around there). I remember telling my friend, Jerika, that a cute guy was looking at us and I remember kind of having tunnel vision. When our eyes met, my heart kind of skipped a beat but I remember thinking "act cool." Sure enough, the cute guy, Joseph, walked over, picked me up and put me on the ground. He introduced himself and asked me to dance. I don't remember noticing anything around me at that point, I was only paying attention to him. After we danced we talked a little bit and found out that we had a lot in common. In fact, we lived right down the street from eachother in Slidell (who knew?!). He ended up asking if he could take me to dinner sometime. I remember thinking "what guy at a bar asks that? ....umm ok?" 
The next day, I remember hoping I would hear from him and not too long after, we did go on that date. We went on our first date to P.F. Changs and then to the Bulldog for drinks with some of his friends (and then, of course, Redeye). I was so nervous because you had to be 21 to get into the Bulldog and I wasn't 21 yet. I was praying that my fake ID would scan because I was going to be so embarrassed if we couldn't get in. My ID did scan and we had a great time.  
Eventually, I asked Joseph to be my date for my cousin Courtney's wedding (Courtney is one of my bridesmaids) and while we were dancing to "My Girl" he was singing to me and then asked me to officially be his girlfriend (it was so sweet). The date was June 26, 2010 and the rest is history :) 
 
BEFORE THE PROPOSAL (according to the bride): 
Just before Christmas of 2011, Joseph asked me to go shopping for Christmas gifts for his family. Instead of looking for gifts, I found that he kept stopping in jewelry stores. He literally stopped at every store in the mall and asked if I liked anything in there. Of course I liked things in there but I didn't realize what he meant. He finally walked over to the engagement rings and said "do you like any of these?" I think I just gave him a confused look. He had asked me to look for Christmas gifts but we hadn't been in one store to look for those and now we are looking at engagement rings? 
Soon after our little trip to the mall, he must have become determined to find the right ring because he was constantly taking me to jewelry stores. I had made it a point over the years not to look at rings because I didn't want to have a ring in my head and then be surprised with something else so I knew NOTHING about rings or diamonds. We went to Northshore Mall, Lakside and even the Mall of Louisiana when I was living in Baton Rouge. 
After awhile, I thought they all looked the same until we walked into a store and saw this one ring. I tried to act like I didn't need to try it on but it was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen in my entire life. It was so different, I had never seen one quite like it. I remember trying it on and I couldn't even act like it wasn't the perfect ring. I know my eyes lit up and I had the biggest smile on my face. I remember thinking "don't get attached, stay calm, put the ring down." After that, we stopped looking at rings (or I did at least) and I never knew exactly when he would buy the ring...or if I would get that ring exactly (I did by the way). Either way, I assumed that one day we would be engaged to be married (and the thought of that was pretty exciting to me). 
 
THE DAY OF THE PROPOSAL 
On the evening of May 10, 2013, Joseph and I were supposed to be going to the Ritz for drinks with his friends. He told me it was Brett's birthday and the whole crew was meeting there. At the last minute, Joseph told me he would like to take me out to dinner. His excuse was that we were supposed to be paying for Jazzfest tickets and we ended up getting them for free so he had the extra money to spend. I didn't think anything of it. He had made reservations at Arnaud's for dinner. We had been to Arnaud's one other time with his parents and we both absolutely loved it. The food and the atmosphere were simply amazing! 
When I sat down for dinner, Joseph asked me to switch seats but I can't even remember why. I think it was so I could see the band or something (I found out later that it wasn't the real reason..he really didn't want me to see Ashley and Scott sitting at the bar). We ended up ordering wine, appetizers, entrees and even, my favorite, bananas foster for dessert. I remember thinking that I was having the best time and I didn't want it to end. While we were having dessert, the band came over to us and began to play our song "My Girl" and I know my face lit up (we were dancing to "My Girl" at my cousin's wedding when he asked me to be his girlfriend). I remember wondering if this was planned or if it was a coincidence. 
Joseph had not gotten up the whole night (not even to go to the restroom) so this couldn't have been planned. He then asked me to dance with him. I remember thinking that everyone would be watching us because no one else was dancing but I decided to dance with him anyway (after all, I always tell him he needs to be more romantic). As we were dancing he began talking to me. He was telling me how he felt about me and all of a sudden he was down on one knee. I was shocked. I know I said yes when he asked if I would marry him but I was so surprised that I didn't even hear what he said or look at the ring. All of a sudden it was on my finger and he picked me up off of the ground to hug me. Immediately after that I turned around and Scott and Ashley were behind me...they had taken a video of the whole thing. 
 
After we sat back down at our table I finally had a chance to take it all in. The proposal happened almost in slow motion but was all really a blur. I've heard people say that before but I never really understood until it happened. Joseph asked me if I heard what he had said to me while we were dancing and I asked him to repeat it because I had been so shocked and surprised that I really didn't process half of what he actually said. When he repeated it to me is when I really heard him and I started crying. I was so excited to finally be engaged to my best friend and the love of my life. 
 
We did end up going to the Ritz afterwards with Ashley and Scott for a fun filled night of martinis and dancing but it was not Brett's birthday. The whole night was a master plan that Joseph had come up with just for me and it truely was the perfect night :) 
 
THE END OF THE NIGHT 
I always say that one day we will have a story for our grandchildren...well here it is.... 
Joseph does not EVER pay for parking. He either gets lucky and finds a spot or he just parks far away (and then I complain the entire way to wherever we are going). This particular night, he wanted to make sure everything ran smoothly so he paid for parking (I should have known immediately that something was up). 
I guess he thought that we wouldn't stay out as late as we did because our parking spot had run out of time and when we walked up to our car we had a boot. Not only did Lexi (Joseph's car has a name) have a boot but she had stickers all over her just in case you missed the boot. Before we left, he had to pay $90 to get the boot taken off all because we stayed out a little bit longer than he had planned. 
What a terrible end to the most amazing night of my life.....oh well....nothing could really ruin the night for us (not even a boot).
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