Wedding Blog

Our Engagement Story:

Mr. Penguin and I had been dating for 5 1/2 years, and things were going swimmingly. Within the year, we had bought our first place, and were busy fixing it up and doing all those things that new homeowners do. In October of 2006, Mr. Penguin and I headed for a big trip to Italy with his family. And I was prepared. It was coming. Our BIG engagement. I could just feel it. We had already begun talking about being married in a comfortable way (like life insurance policies in each other’s names, what our kids will look like, etc.) but the actual engagement just hadn’t happened yet. I had even let my closest friends know that this might really be it! And what a romantic story it would make, to say that we were engaged by the hillsides of Tuscany, or atop a Duomo in Sienna.

…But Italy came. And it was wonderful. And it went. My left hand? Still barren. But the trip was so fabulous, I was far from disappointed.

The months passed, Christmas came and went, and we were still “living in sin”, in our wonderful new home together. My own engagement faded to the back of my mind.

January rolled around and I had casually mentioned that I was unusually busy with work in the upcoming weeks, even working a full day on Friday (!) a couple weeks from then. I could suddenly hear a slight panic in Mr. Penguin’s voice.

“I found a great deal on Travelzoo for a couple of nights in Big Sur 2 weeks from now, I was hoping we would take that Friday off and head to the coast.”

I got annoyed. “What? Why the hell didn’t you consult me earlier? I know I usually don’t work Fridays, but unless we block off specific days, I’m always available for shoots 5 days a week.”

Mr. Penguin argued, “Okay so you haven’t worked for more than a half day for as many Fridays as I can remember. Can’t you just skip it?”

I continued to be annoyed, “No, I can’t skip shoots. Shoots happen. Let’s postpone the trip.”

After being insistent that we indeed had to take the trip, I finally agreed to go, but not without a lot of begging for a postponement.

So, in all my frustration about this last minute trip, I didn’t even THINK that there might have been a reason behind it all. He’d promised me a weekend getaway for my birthday (which was over 6 months passed by then) that we’d never made it to, and I thought that this was my extremely belated present, and neither of us like to turn down a good travelzoo top 20 deal.

But it turns out that there was no “travelzoo” deal. Mr. Penguin had booked us for 2 nights at the lovely Ventana Inn and Spa, and with our package came dinner at Cielo Restaurant, which is why we couldn’t miss our reservations. We made it just in time to throw on our finest clothes and be shuttled to the restaurant. And it was capital F Fabulous.

(Just a side note, if any of you brides out there are considering a “Mini-Moon,” or a honeymoon on the California coast, Check out Ventana Inn. It’s secluded and gorgeous, and you feel like the only people in the world there. They offer lots of lazy activities, like a wine reception every day, as well as guided walking tours, and even truffle hunting with dogs! It’s a lovely place!)

The following day we took a bike ride along the gorgeous 17 Mile Drive.

We stopped along the way to have a few glasses of wine on a secluded beach, where, under pressure because it started to rain, Mr. Penguin got down on one knee and asked me if I’d marry him! And right on cue, the rain started to pour, and we both hopped back on our bikes and raced back to the car. I was ecstatic!

Mr. Penguin had picked out a diamond and a setting with his dad back home in Minnesota when we were visiting for the holidays. He had managed to keep it a secret for a full month, and when the ring finally arrived in the mail, he was eager to get it out of his pocket and on to my hand, which explained the urgency of the trip.

So there it is, the story of our engagement. I think that the frustration with the timing of the weekend actually made it all that sweeter, because getting engaged was the LAST thing on my mind at the time.

Here’s the awesome ring he picked out all by himself! It’s a princess cut stone on a platinum knife edge band, and the cool thing is that it’s set on a bias, so that it’s more of a “diamond” rather than a “square”. I couldn’t have picked out a better ring myself!