How We Met

Doug and I officially met at a birthday party for a friend of mine. Doug just happened to be there because one of his best friends was also friends with the birthday boy. After the party, Doug and his roommate invited everyone back to their house and THAT party seemed to last all weekend. I say that’s how we “officially” met because we are pretty certain we had prior run-ins with each other as our groups of friends sometimes mingled. Doug grew up less than a mile from me and we attended the same elementary, middle and high schools. He’s four years older, so it wasn’t until high school that we were at the same school at the same time. As a lowly freshman, I had a small crush on the senior…I just thought he was pretty darn cute! When we finally did meet 7 years later..it was like everything fell into place. I was completely smitten by the end of the second night we hung out. He was witty, charming and hilarious. What girl wouldn’t fall for that?

How He Proposed

When Doug and I talked about proposals the one thing I always repeated was no matter what he did, I wanted my family to be there. I didn’t want to have to call them and tell them, I wanted to run and jump up and down and cry with my mom and sister. (Although, truth be told, my dad is the biggest crier in the family!) When a trip to Philadelphia in early December 2010 came and went without a ring I really began to wonder how he would come up with a surprise since I was convinced it would happen on vacation!

My parents live four hours from Houston, so on December 26th of each year Doug drives out to spend the rest of the holidays with my family. This past year, when Doug arrived, we went to lunch and he told me there that he wanted to take our dogs (Guinness and Millie) on a walk when we got back to my parents but that he had to go get beer with my dad first. I didn’t really think anything was weird because they both have an affinity for craft beers and could spend hours together deciding which new ones to try. After what did seem like hours, Doug and I finally set off for a walk in my parents’ neighborhood. They live in the hill country and their neighborhood has wide, expansive views of the hills so we always have pretty amazing look-out points. We walked the dogs for a little while and when we reached a hill I noticed that Doug wasn’t walking alongside me anymore. I turned around to look for him and noticed him shuffling in the gravel on the side of the road. He looked up at me and, I remember this vividly, had a funny little smile on his face as he said “come here”. So, I walked over to him, curious as to what he was up to as he put his arms around my waist. Before I even knew what was happening there was a ring in front of my eyes and he was down on one knee! All I remember saying was “is this a joke? Are you serious? Is this a joke?” and then I got silent..it took me about a minute to recover and after he said “um, are you going to say something?” I boldly shouted “Yes!”

In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined he would propose at my parents’ house but it was pretty perfect. I got to burst into the house and run to my mom and cry with her. I remember opening my sisters’ bedroom door and just sticking my arm through the doorway until she finally noticed the sparkler on my left hand! Cue more crying…and then my dad walked in, crying. He hadn’t been able to walk into the house because he didn’t want to give the surprise away to my mom. Turns out the guys didn’t get beer but champagne instead as Doug asked my dad for his permission on the way to the store.

About the Engagement Session

I was really, really sick the day of the session but luckily we had two good friends with us who made sure to
bring along lots of Vitamin C (in the form of mimosas, hehe). The cocktails mixed with adrenaline and excitement made me feel a lot better so when we met up with Caroline and Sam I was ready to go! We had two ideas for the shoot; half the shots were going to be modern and the other half in 50’s attire to reflect the vintage feel of our wedding. We started with the modern ones so Caroline took us to the Capitol. When we got there we found a rally going on. Unsure of how we would take that, Caroline asked us what we wanted to do. I immediately said “Let’s use this!” As sneakily as we could, Caroline placed us within the crowd and then in front of the actual speaker to capture some epic shots. What came out of those 15 minutes was truly incredible. The rest of the day followed in similar suit with funny things happening along the way. Julie and Marc (our friends) accompanied us and offered their usual hilarity to the awkwardness of standing in front of a camera. They also served as wardrobe, hair, make-up and lighting help! The modern shots Caroline took were perfect but I think my favorites were in the 50’s inspired cupcake shop. She and Sam were able to capture some really cute and sweet moments between Doug and me, including a debate over whether Vanilla or Chocolate milk is better. It was one of the best days since Doug and I have been together. Caroline is an amazing photographer and she made us feel comfortable and special which I truly appreciate. It also wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without Marc and Julie along and I’m forever grateful that they were there to share that day with us.

For more from Lanie + Doug’s engagement session, visit Sweet Caroline’s blog.

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