I AM GETTING MARRIED!

In case the title (and the all caps) was not clear enough, I’m engaged and getting married!!!  Eek! This is day five of having a ring on my finger and I am still as excited as the minute it happened.  On Saturday my dream guy got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and it was perfect. My fiancé (oh weird, that’s the first time I’ve written that word) wanted to make sure we were able to tell our family and closest friends face to face (and by that we mean FaceTime) before we shared it with the wider world. But now it’s time for details and because my dad asked when we called, I clearly said yes!

For those who wanted to know the engagement story, it’s your lucky day. On Saturday we took a day trip out of London yesterday and drove south to Hever Castle in Kent, which was built in the 13th century and was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn.  (And if you have been around Sparkles and Shoes awhile you will know that I have a thing for castles.) We knew before we arrived the actual castle would be closed due to COVID but we were able to explore the expansive grounds. After a half hour of walking around and taking a long look at the castle we crossed the drawbridge we walked up the boulevard away from the main house and when we found a little waterfall, sat down for a picnic. After lunch Mark got down on one knee and proposed.  It was magical and everything I could have hoped for and more!   Oh, and there was a VERY pretty ring.  

If you follow me on social media, especially Instagram, you will know my fiancé is super photo shy so it does not surprise me that there are no photos of the actual proposal but after I screamed yes about 12 times he humored me with a ton of photos.  I had my DSLR with me as we were visiting the castle and I set it up on a ledge and took a few dozen photos with the self timer. 

Then we began our wander around the rest of the castle grounds and I nearly tripped a few times because I could not stop staring at my ring.  We then looped back by the castle (following the strict one way paths) and I set my camera up on top of a trash can for another set of photos from one side of the castle. And if that was not enough as I was determined to get a good shot, we went to the other side of the castle and even moved a bench to get a few more photos.  Here are some of my favorites: 

And now in case you need a break of pictures of my face, take a look at a few shots of the gorgeous Hever Castle gardens.  Over the last 700 years it has been owned by a number of families – the Boleyn’s, King Henry VIII of England, and the Waldegraves to name a few before it was purchased in 1903 William Waldorf Astor.  He not only restored the castle but improved the gardens – take a look at what a gorgeous setting he chose to propose (and I think it gives more context to our engagement story): 

Okay, one more photo of the ring and one shot of our celebration: 

And I will be sure to do a follow up post so if you have any questions about the engagement story or anything else, feel free to drop them in the comments and I will be happy to follow up!