Pro-pose like a Pro

Come on.  You know what this is going to be about.

So, as you all probably know, I got engaged to my guy of eleven years over the holidays.  And, if you know me personally, you know that I’ve been waiting for that moment for the past seven of those eleven.  I’ve had a lot of time to plan things out, and now that it’s happened, I couldn’t be more unprepared.  You see, the thing is, when you spend a good chunk of your life planning, you get too many ideas, then you end up in my situation.  Absolutely no idea where to go from here.

I did know one thing I wanted to do for sure right from the beginning, though.  Two words: Bridesmaid Proposal.  When I first found the idea on Pinterest, I thought it was just about the cutest thing, and knew right away it was something I wanted to do.  Small problem with that, though.  Everything I found was super cutesy and nice for normal bride-to-be’s to give to their buddies.

I don’t know if you’ve caught on by now on this, and I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m not exactly what you would call normal.

So, the challenge: find a way to ask a small handful of girls to help a sister out when the sister is dark and a touch eccentric?

I started my journey in Hobby Lobby: a store not necessarily up to the task of fulfilling my gothic needs.  I had my sister join me in this adventure, a woman whom I love dearly even though she thinks I’m a little weird.  We wandered around for the extent of her lunch hour while trying to figure out just how we’re going to do this.  We picked up a lot of things, and ended up putting everything back.  Reason: I’m bad at coming up with ideas under pressure.  Who was putting me under pressure?  Myself.  Naturally.  I’m an anxious mess 99% of the time.

I spent the next several weeks browsing Amazon and Pinterest trying to figure out my life.  I’d take screenshots and send them to my sister, anything from box setup to creepy little ditties, and she would likewise tell me it was cute or reject my brilliant ideas in the most brutal way possible.  I always take her advice with a grain of salt, though, because she’s normal and I’m my own person.  Grown independent woman don’t need no normie.  

Ultimately, I did what I wanted anyway.  I work like that.  I have to face rejection to really know what it is I want.  Otherwise I do what other people want just to make the process easier.  Eh, not one of my best traits.  Follower and all that nonsense.

Anyway, that’s not the point.  You didn’t come here to hear about my shitty decision making skills.  You came here to see my sick ass bridesmaid proposal boxes!

First thing I did was decide on a theme.  I am having my wedding in the fall, and I want it to be dark but not cheesy.  Gothic romance.  Think Phantom of the Opera.  The Andrew Lloyd Webber one.  Classy shit (said in the most unclassy way possible).  I want Halloween, but not Halloween.  Light Halloween.  

I settled on buying little stress dolls on Amazon that look like voodoo dolls. They are absolutely adorable and I would recommend them to anyone who wants a cute, inexpensive gift. Plus, they smell like cookies. They feel nice in your hand. They are just all-around a great little gift. Just a little touch of fun for an otherwise super serious proposal. Or something like that. 😉

Nextly, I knew I wanted to add something in there a little bit more…I don’t know…nice?  I wanted to give my girls something they could keep that wasn’t just a cheap novelty item.  Here, Hobby Lobby was exactly what I needed.  I took a stroll through there, intending on just getting a box and some filler, and lo and behold, they had some of their fall decor out.  

Sick ass pumpkins!

I found some baby ones that were a hollow scrolly fancy type, and called it a win.  Then I snagged a few fold up boxes and shredded filler paper (the stuff my sister picked out, no less), and some scrapbooking paper and got the hell out of there.  I never much cared for shopping before, but I care for it even less now that the rona has taken over.  Pandemics suck.

I knew I wanted to ask them in a unique way, and nothing on Pinterest or elsewhere on the wide wide world of the interwebs satisfied me. I had to turn to the one thing that never let me down. My one ace. Alright, I’ll cut the bullshit; I had to figure it out on my own. I ended up taking inspiration from Phantom of the Opera and my own mother who used to take existing songs and write alternative lyrics for them for plays. I spun Notes into a proposal. Why Notes? Because I have a thing with my best friend and the word ‘publicity.’ I couldn’t miss out on an opportunity for the inside joke. Originally, I was going to use it just for hers, but the thing as a whole really came out nicely, inside joke aside, so I used it for the other two as well.

I added a card for them to take a selfie with for their answer, an information card for what little parts I do know such as the date and the overall theme I’m shooting for, and a couple quotes from Stephen King that I really like. Threw it all together, and off in the mail they went!

By now, they all have received their respective boxes. I’ve gotten one answer back with the selfie, one just a text (poor sport, what can I say?), and one I’m still waiting on a definite answer. All of them seemed to really like the contents inside at very least. I sent pictures of them all to my mom and my sister, and they both said the same thing: It’s cute, and it’s very you. I take that as a compliment, and therefore, a win.

So, that’s it.  That’s as far in the wedding thing as I’ve gotten so far, and there’s a lot of time to figure it out, but just because it’s not for a couple years doesn’t mean that I can slack off.  There’s a lot left to do.  So.  Much.  Planning.

Hey, void. You look cute today. Also, did you ever do a bridesmaid proposal? Or, if you haven’t gotten married, what do you think of them? Obviously, I think they are adorable. My sister thought they were a little out of the ordinary. What say you?