Hey! Today we're trying something new. I thought it would be helpful if I could follow one woman through her wedding planning journey, start to finish. Now, you might not know this, but I have several friends. Until now, none of them have been engaged or willing to blog about said engagement. Today, TODAY is a special day. Today you meet my dear friend Samantha who has just gotten engaged! We will be hearing from Sam weekly with updates on her adventures in wedding planning as well as updates on her sanity.
So without further adoooo.....
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Samantha Jasmine; pictured here with her fiance Dave.




Hi, I'm Samantha, and I'm an art teacher and painter. I started reading SOSN before I was even engaged! I'm really excited to have been invited to contribute.

I suppose I'd better begin with a little about my fiance. Dave works as a book editor at a publishing house here in New York. We met through Nerve.com (eek!) which used to feel as if it had a stigma attached but, lately, online dating seems more and more commonplace. He was my first online date anyhow, so that makes it sort of sweet.

We began to seriously consider getting engaged last summer. After a lot of research into unconventional ring ideas (eBay and Fay Cullen) and popping into places like Doyle and Doyle and Little King in downtown Manhattan, we wound up commissioning a dear friend from college (and gifted jewelry designer) to make one for us. In mid-August we got the finished ring, but I was strictly forbidden to see it until the question was actually popped—Dave assured me it would be buried safely beneath the surface of Jupiter until he was ready to do so, so there would be no point in snooping around the apartment.

Dave told me I would be surprised...and I was. In late September, his parents and sister were invited to dinner with my parents, brother, grandmother, and cousins. Mid-meal, I started pestering him to eat more. Usually, he goes nuts for all the fabulous food my parents serve. But this night he was skimping. Suddenly, he clinked his glass and cleared his throat ("Is he making a toast?" I wondered. "He sometimes does that," I thought as I spooned some applesauce into my mouth). Then he said: "As you all know, Samantha and I have been together for over two and a half years, and we love each other very much." I froze. Next, he pushed his chair back and got down on one knee— everyone was already saying "aww" and crying. As he knelt, his foot pushed the fireplace poker over and there was a loud crash as it fell down; laughter and tears now from the audience. He took the ring from his pocket, slid it on my finger and asked me "will you marry me?", but he already knew my answer: Yes! There was a lot of hugging and kissing around the table after that and, now, here we are.

We're already getting started on the planning for a lovely, creative, and classy affair in June. I look forward to posting the ups and downs of the process and hopefully, getting some of your feedback and ideas.