Angie + Reed: The Engagement

on Tuesday, August 13, 2013

I knew it was happening. Of course I did. I asked way too many questions - but guess what? It was still incredible.

Reed left the house at 10pm the night before- he couldn't tell me where he was going and he didn't know when he'd be back. We agreed that I could still text him, and he would respond in a timely manner, and that he would not get arrested or hurt. Oh, and wherever he was did not involve strippers. Sleeping was impossible - I wondered what would await me the next morning, how would he ask? What had he been working on so long? So I played Candy Crush until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. He got home at 1:30am, and woke me promptly at 7am with a bagel, latte (the only way to wake me at that hour) and a big smile. He told me to wear something colorful.

It was Thursday, July 11, 2013.
As I was getting dressed he picked up his phone, got a startled look on his face and told me we must leave as soon as possible. I tried not to worry and we rushed out. We drove through the streets of Minneapolis to an unknown location until I finally realized where we were going- Lake of the Isles (a long held respite for us during stressful and less happy times). Except we weren't, we were going to Kenwood Park right beside it. We parked at the top of a hill and as we descended into the park I saw a white tunnel stretched across a tennis field and our dear friend Phong standing at the entrance.





I then realized the reason for his panic that morning - there were 25 children having tennis lessons in the next court over. Phong had stood guard since 7, and had asked the coach to use the other court. He kindly obliged. Reed walked me onto the court and explained that, as I had guessed months earlier, he had commissioned our favorite local artist, HOT+TEA (aka Eric Reiger) to help with the big event. 60 emails were exchanged perfecting a thoughtful and meaningful work of art - Eric spent weeks scouting locations and Reed spent the time cleaning out every Walmart and Michaels of their yarn. It was inspired by a special memory we had in Iceland - there were lots of special moments in Iceland.





The rest is a bit of a blur really. I think it is for him too. It was overwhelming and magical and I cried, of course.




And Phong took amazing photos. We went back that afternoon to take another good look at it - people were playing tennis around, commenting that they hoped it'd stay up awhile. We didn't tell them it was for us. Eric named it "Never Forget This Moment" and then took it down that evening - and we never will forget it. For more photos click here

Oh, and did I mention the ring? I picked it out, but it still made me squeal when I saw it again. It was perfect. Raw diamond with a brushed rose gold band - simple, and vintagey (but new) and perfect.