Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
It was at Bowyer Island on a tiny beach at 11:11 am where our family has a cabin. I had dubbed it the wishing tide (11:11!). Kevin rushed us out the door to go picking for treasures on our favorite beach on the island and just as we got there, an alarm went off on his phone. I looked at him coyly, asking if it was the wishing tide alarm. He confirmed and I excitedly pulled him down to the waterline so we could share a cute kiss and make some wishes. At the shoreline, he got on one knee, pulled just the ring from his pocket, and said, “I always wish for the same thing.” I don’t even remember what I said, I assure you it was garbled as I was tearful and caught off-guard and fumbling to put the ring on. The ring was perfectly me, not a diamond but an opal (my birthstone) set in a vintage early 1900’s band. We do a lot of stargazing at the cabin and Kevin has a knack for spotting shooting stars, each time he saw one I’d tell him to make a wish, each time he answered, “I always wish for the same thing.” So proposing to me on the wishing tide was the sweetest thing! It was just the two of us on our tiny beach, it couldn’t have been more perfect. A few family members were with us at the cabin that weekend so we got to celebrate that night with a barbecue on the deck and it was wonderful. We had only been together for 6 months at the time, this was totally breaking my rule of not committing to that level before at least a year of dating and for Kevin, well, he wasn’t even into the idea of marriage at all. Clearly, something changed for both of us and we knew we wanted to go through life together.
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
I love hearing everyone else’s wedding stories, be it their own or others they attended. Anyone that finds out you’re getting married just has to share their story, but it’s honestly a great way to get ideas and learn how others navigated specific issues!
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Planning a tiny wedding, having each other for laughs, my future mother-in-law who is an excellent voice of reason and helps me settle anything, and learning how to ask others to help out!
Andres Markwart
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It was so much fun to make the website! It was really easy, the prompts and the pre-made structure were useful and helped, and encouraged spur some of our own input.
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Don’t leave the website as a last minute to-do, start it ASAP and give yourself time to tweak it a number of times before you share it. It will take you longer than you think! Make sure to always ask your partner’s input, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what they add or how they word things.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
In terms of perpetuating joy in our marriage, I hope to be able to look back at our wedding day with a lot of happiness. I also hope to continue to appreciate and love each other the same way as we have in the years of courting and excitement leading up to the big day!
