Red Rose Petal Proposal in Philadelphia

Say this three times fast: Perfectly planned red rose petal proposal. Tongue tied yet? WeddingMix bride-to-be Ashley sure was when her fiance planned an amazingly elaborate Philly proposal for her! And that’s not all — she has a whole slew of ultra-rad DIY wedding invitations, DIY guest books, and super cute personalized accessories for her bridesmaids!

How did you two meet? What did you first think of him?

Well, we first met in May of 2011. He likes to say “we met at a bar.” I personally like to elaborate a little bit. Not that there’s anything wrong with meeting at a bar, but, that’s not the whole story! Basically, I was at a bar (yes, that part is true) in Philadelphia celebrating my best friend’s birthday. Her (now) husband had just moved to Philadelphia, and he wanted to re-kindle his friendship with some of his best buds from University of Pittsburgh (who lived in Philadelphia)..one of whom was Adam.

So, he called them to stop by. He came, we chatted for 10 minutes, and he left. Nothing major. He asked for my number..I wasn’t interested in dating (I had declared this prior to that night!). We talked online, texted, etc. for MONTHS. He would ask me to meet for happy hours, etc. and I would always decline. I really had my guard up! After a few months I realized that the absolute best part of my day was when I heard from him, and I told myself I was really stupid to say “no” to his next offer. So, he asked, I said yes, we went out for a date, and we’ve been together ever since!

The Proposal in Philadelphia

OMG I love our engagement story. So, we had plans to go to Philadelphia for the weekend for a friend’s birthday party (or so I thought). Since we had left PA, many of our friends moved out of the city, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary that he suggested we stay in a hotel. In fact, he had rewards points for a really nice hotel! So of course I didn’t argue that 🙂

The plan was to go to dinner Saturday night with his brother, sister-in-law, and our niece. Then, we would go out to the party with our friends. So, we drive to Philadelphia and we check in to the hotel. I go into the room and there are rose petals starting at the doorway and scattered all along the floor and room. I walk in further and it says “Ashley Will You Marry Me?” in red rose petals on the bed. There was a bucket of champagne and all. I of course said YES! and his brother and sister in law jumped out from behind the curtains. They were the assistants setting up the room for Adam since we were in Maryland.

Next, I made my calls and we headed to dinner with his brother and sister-in-law. I thought my mom was in Maine and my dad was in Florida, so I was TOTALLY shocked when I walked into the restaurant and all of our immediate family was there for a 3 course dinner that Adam had planned. It was amazing!

THEN..as if that’s not enough…we went out for a post-dinner drink and there were about 20 of our close friends waiting at a bar to celebrate. It was seriously the best weekend ever. (What makes it better is that he really crossed his T’s and dotted his I’s. When we “checked in” it was all staged! The concierge was in on it. The person’s birthday who we were going to actually blocked her real birthday on Facebook just in case).

Any DIY wedding projects coming up?

ALWAYS! Well, so far I DIY’d my bridesmaids’ invitations. They were so cute, I must say. I just finished what I refer to as semi-DIY with my Save the Dates.

I got these adorable STDs from Wedding Paper Divas that had faux gold glitter dots on them. Of course I had to add glitter! So, I used an embossing method and gold embossing powder to add some glitz to the STD. I also found a “confetti” stamp that I used with gold embossing ink to add to the envelopes. They have been a hit so far!

Next up is gold glitter hangers for my bridesmaids – I think it will look adorable with their long black dresses in the photos. OH and my guest book! I want to buy a guest book that is huge with blank pages. I am going to buy small little envelopes in pretty colors that match our theme, in addition to corresponding cards. Then, I am going to cut the triangular flap off of each envelope and adhere about 6 or so to a page. I will probably add some cute things like lace tape and whatnot to the envelopes. I will have the cards out for guests to write messages and slip into each envelope. I can’t wait to do this project!

Most importantly, is our WeddingMix video! We are planning to start shooting some videos soon of the dress fitting, tastings…our “interviews”…and whatever else we come up with!

What moments during your engagement do you want to remember forever?

Wow. That’s a hard one. I wish I could remember every minute. We have been engaged for a year now and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s so fun to have something to look forward to every month or so, minus the pressure of time. I would say for sure, our engagement weekend (of course), the day we picked the venue, and of course the day I found my wedding dress. I am sure there are many more to come, like my bridal shower, etc. but for now that’s what I would say.

How can the WeddingMix team help you capture those priceless moments?

The WeddingMix video in and of itself will help to capture these moments. Traditional wedding videographers won’t be at my dress fittings, my tastings, and my shower. Those are once in a lifetime events that you have to depend on someone else to capture, send to you, etc. WeddingMix can help by including these little snapshots and video clips in our video which we will have forever and ever.

Anything else you’d like to share with other brides?

Ok, so some of Ashley-the-bride’s word’s of wisdom… Let’s see. I would share that we are doing something unique for our WeddingMix video. I am going to have one of our close friends “interview” us over the next few months. I don’t know if we will give the questions or she will come up with them, but, we will have separate little interviews and maybe a couple together. I think some questions like “what do you love the most about __” and “what are you most excited for on the wedding day” (and then one about the future)…things like that. I would love to have the little clips interspersed between clips from the wedding day, etc. on the video.

Be ORGANIZED! I CAN’T stress this enough. We have more Google Docs than you can imagine. And we send them to every newly engaged couple that we know. We have a timeline that includes everything from my nail appointment two days before the wedding to due dates for venue deposits. I try really hard (although it’s super difficult) to focus on one thing at a time. This takes away a lot of stress and helps to make sure you meet deadlines!

I am a firm believer that you and your fiancé should make your wedding what you want it to be. I HATE when people say things as if they are written in stone…like..”the groom’s parents do not speak at the wedding.” and “you HAVE to wear white at your shower.” Make your own rules. Do what makes you happy, and don’t worry about pleasing everyone else. It’s YOUR day, and, if you are happy, it will radiate and those who are important to you will feel the same.

So, I have a bunch of wedding planning things coming up. Next week we are meeting with our florist to adjust the proposal…then in October we are meeting with our photographer again…my shower and tasting is in December..and dress fittings in between.. OH and in September my mom and I are headed to Paper Presentation.. my paper heaven! I plan to do video clips of as many of the above things as possible..and lots of photos always!