Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
At the time of purchasing the ring, Joey didn’t know it would take roughly eight weeks for the ring to arrive! So, the original proposal plans to occur during a trip to Wisconsin for his family reunion, were blown. He was so excited and couldn’t keep the purchase a secret so I knew the night he bought the ring! Sunday night before the ring arrived, after I experienced a host of unfortunate symptoms, we found out we were pregnant! We didn’t think this was possible for us, so we were really surprised!
Heather Rickelman
The ring arrived later that week. The proposal took place in the foyer of our house, the same day Joey picked up the ring. I was in my nightgown, experiencing morning sickness and feeling like a hot mess as I started to walk through the foyer. Joey met me there, walking towards me with something in his hand. The house was unkempt and with “tumbleweeds” of dog fur alongside our feet, Joey proposed! I said, “Yes!” and we told our families the news. They were all probably still in shock from the first news of the week, but still excited! We celebrated that weekend with a nice dinner and snapped our first engagement shot! We pressed on with wedding planning and set a target for November, with a baby due in March….and then we lost her. The baby had Turner’s syndrome and didn’t make it. After some time, we got back to planning and moved the date up significantly when we found the perfect venue, going from almost a year and a half of planning to only having five months! I used my work schedule to help us pick the right date and although not intentionally planned, the date that worked for us is two days before our original due date. It doesn’t make it any less awful, but it’s actually really nice to replace what will be such a sad reminder for us, with a very wonderful event!
Heather Rickelman
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
Right after we got engaged, I started on the website. That was really exciting for me because it made it feel real as I worked to set everything up and prepare the big event! There’s truly a lot of information for each guest to have and while the invitations help, the details come through better by using the website.
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Joey and I are very focused on what is important to us, our relationship! Everything else is just extra but we did prioritize that “extra”. The prioritization helped with budgeting as well as constantly asking ourselves what is really important to us. We have been so open to every option, style, and suggestion making things really easy. If we were too fixed on what is “perfect” I could see that greatly distracting us from what really matters and adding unnecessary pressure that might not bring us joy.
Heather Rickelman
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It keeps everything in one place, is easy to use, and has a lot of options to personalize while remaining free!
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Utilize the guide as it introduces you to the different sections as well as any updates. The website is not hard to use, but the tools Joy provides will ensure you’re using it to the fullest!
Heather Rickelman
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
Joy is the memories and time that I share with those I love!
