Gregory, a Firefighter and Paramedic planned quite an adventurous proposal for Janeil, an Office Manager, leading her everywhere from work to the spa to a girls’ weekend by the lake where they met before popping the question. He even got the police involved. The day long proposal led to a small, beautiful, sunny spring wedding in Lynchburg, Virginia, surrounded by their closest family and friends.
Wedding Date: April 18, 2015
Wedding Location: Lynchburg, Virginia
First Dance Song: “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
Favorite Item on the Menu: The chicken was amazing! I would eat it everyday if I could.
Tell us about how you met and all about the proposal!
We met at a mutual friend’s birthday party on Smith Mountain Lake. We went to the same church but hadn’t ever seen or spoken to each other. After the party, we became friends but that’s all we were, until about six months later when we started hanging out and talking more often. A little over a year after we met, he asked me to go bike riding and that day he asked me to be his girlfriend.
Apparently, the proposal was planned for over a year to make sure it went off without a hitch on my birthday weekend. I was on vacation from work that week. He contacted my boss to have me come to the office that morning because there was “an emergency” and I had to be there. So I went in and at about 8:30am, two police officers came in and told me that I had to come with them and it was urgent. They escorted me out to my car without really stating why they needed me or what the big emergency was. When I got to my car, there was a bouquet of lilies and a note telling me to be at the parlor spa at 9am for an appointment. The spa doesn’t actually open until 10am but he had them open an hour early just for me. When I got to the spa, I had it all – manicure, pedicure, facial, and a massage.
At the end of my spa day, they gave me a note from him with a key in it telling me to go look in my car under my seat for the next surprise. Under my seat, there was a box with a note telling me to go home and pack an overnight bag and get ready to enjoy my birthday weekend. When I got home, one of my best friends was waiting for me, to take me to a condo on Smith Mountain Lake where my sister and another good friend would later join us for a girls weekend. That evening, they all told me we had to be up at sunrise for breakfast and a photo-shoot for my birthday. The morning before we left, they put a blindfold on me and we walked down towards the lake. When they took the blindfold off of me, I looked up and he was standing there under a gazebo surrounded by rose petals and candles. He told me how much he loved me, got down on one knee and popped the question!
Wedding Style
My wedding dress was an ivory gown designed by Mori Lee. It was a strapless A-line dress with a corset style back. The bodice of the dress had a sweet-heart cut and was covered with pearl and crystal beading. I actually found my dress on the first day of wedding dress shopping. I was very apprehensive about buying on the first day of looking, but I knew it was the one. There is a sense of anxiety and excitement when it comes to shopping, but it’s so much fun and everything becomes very real and so amazing once you buy the dress.
Memories
My best memory from my wedding day would have to be the moment when I was walking down the aisle and my fiance and I made eye contact. It was like everyone there disappeared and the room fell completely silent. The amount of love, joy, and thankfulness I felt in that moment cannot be put into words. I knew I was the luckiest girl in the world and I was about to marry my prince!
Help a bride-to-be out!
As crazy as things seem, I promise that it will all come together. When you’re planning your wedding, there are so many small details that can make you go absolutely insane, so I would advise you not to let it. This day is all about you and your future spouse, not the uncooperative napkins or the missing guest book pen, or in my case the missing cake knife and spatula. At the end of the day, you are marrying the love of your life and that is all that matters. Enjoy the process and get excited!
Vendors:
Photographer: Abbey Deerest Photography
Florist: Bloom By Doyles
Baker: Mrs. Joy’s Treats
Wedding Dress/Bridesmaid Dress Salon: Celebration Bridal
Venue: Old Pate Chapel and Bottling Co.
Wedding Planner: Serena Bledsoe, SDB Event Planning and Design
Her smile says it all! Congrats!