PREFACE: I’ve hesitated a long time to write and share this because our meeting and engagement was so intimate that I wanted to selfishly guard just for us (my preeeccious). But after witnessing and hearing so many beautiful love stories in my work, I felt compelled to share my own along with lots of thoughts and journal entries compiled from our engagement and post wedding. I’ve decided to call it “Notes From the Bride”. Now let’s start at the beginning…
Pyk and I, Photographed by Sara Monika
I’m not one of those girls who dreamed about the day they’d get engaged. Or married for that matter. I’ve dreamed about the day that I’d move to Europe, the day I’d have kids, and the places I’d travel.
Everyone’s love story is romantic, whether that includes “I dos” or not. Ours is romantic because it’s us. It’s OUR story. It’s not better or more epic or worse or more simple than anyone else’s. That night he proposed, our relationship changed and my whole view of the future changed. It was a real turning point and that makes it huge.
Let’s start at the beginning with how we met…
I had a flashback the other day to around 6 months before the time I met Pyk (my guy). I remember thinking to myself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if in a year I’m dating someone who I don’t even know right now.” I guess in NYC that’s pretty easy to do, you meet people all the time. Little did I know that just a few months later I’d meet Pyk.
In the beginning of June of that year I moved into an apartment with my friend and fellow photographer. Like the hosting-lovers that we are, we had an apartment-warming party. Basically it was to show our friends the shoebox that we had just moved into and then drink some beers on the patio in the back (conveniently located next to all of the garbage cans – remember, it’s NYC.)
Over the course of inviting friends, my friend Nick asks if he could bring a few guys from his rugby team. I knew a lot of them already so of course I said, “Yes!”. If there is one thing you should know about rugby players it’s that they are freaking hysterical, I’ve literally not met one rugby player who I thought was lame. So my friend brings a few people and the one guy I didn’t know wasssss… TAH-DAH… Pyk!
We all hung out, heading to the local bar after the party where I finally get around to talking to Pyk. He starts telling me ALLL about Bordeaux (where he’s from) and how good the wine is. (OMG SO FRENCH!!!)
(While that is what I was thinking at the time, I totally see where he was coming from: culturally in France, you basically start drinking wine in baby bottles and have to be full-fledged sommeliers to graduate high-school. Okay, I may have exaggerated a bit there but now that I’ve lived in France and absorbed some of the French swagger, I get it — wine freaking rocks, Bordeaux wine even more.)
That first night I did not fall in love. There was no movie scene where we locked eyes and he swept me away to France to feed me croissants. Sorry Woody Allen.
BUT a few days later he asks me out on a date and over a plate of homemade pasta and pesto we hit it off.. fast forward him surprising me in NY after 1 month of long distance, 1.5 years more of long distance, and 3 years of living in France together and BOOOOOOOM.. cue in my wine-loving Frenchie dropping to one knee in Mexico.
ENGAGEMENT STORY COMING NEXT!
Ours was such a chance meeting and against all odds, worked out (yay!)
Please comment below on how you met your love, I’d love to hear!!
There are so many roads to happiness..
