The Engagement (December 2008-March 2009)

A few months after we went to the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover Event, John and I started seriously talking about getting married.  I would have run off to a court house with that boy (and we even seriously contemplated it) but I knew I only was going to be married once and I wanted to have his family and my family and a few friends who had known us for a long time to be at the wedding.  Little did I know, my Grandma had left me her engagement ring.  My Grandma Corbin and I were extremely close until she passed away when I was 13.  Her friends always called me Little Beth (her name was Beth).  Inside her engagement ring there is an inscription from my Grandpa to my Grandma-- "To Bluebird".  My grandparents eloped in the 1930s.  That ring is so special to me.  It's irreplaceable.  My Dad gave it to John to propose to me.  John made me a scrumptious shrimp risotto dinner on the night he proposed to me.   We started making plans of when and where.  We decided on a state park in Upstate SC called Table Rock for our wedding.  We decided to mainly invite just our family and a few friends and keep the list under 70 to keep the costs down.   It was a simple wedding, but I would not have done anything different.  Let me state, for a fact, that you do not need to spend a lot of money to have a meaningful wedding.  I was able to spend time and sit down and chat with most of my guests.  I've never been to a wedding where the bride and groom got to interact as much with the guests.  It was so important to me to express to them how appreciative I was that they traveled so far to support our vows. It was the best day of my life.  Here are some pictures from  Our Wedding.