Diane + Dave | 08.15.21

The Proposal (from Diane’s perspective)

It was the Sunday before Valentine’s day when I received a text from my friend Lavel. It started out “Hey girl… I need a ginormous favor…” proceeding to tell me how the girl she had booked to model for a styled elopement shoot, hurt her ankle and couldn’t do it anymore. All the vendors were already committed and she needed someone small to fit into the dress she had purchased for the shoot. Then insert photograph of wrapped up ankle to solidify her story. Lavel and I connected through a photography group, met for coffee one day, and have been friends ever since. We have photographed weddings together, and I modeled for a styled shoot with her once before. I always said if she ever needed someone to fill in, I’d be happy to!

I did find the timing a bit fishy, but said I’d talk to Dave and see what he has planned for the Valentine’s weekend. Talking with Dave, he said he waited too last minute to book an earlier dinner reservation or find nice hotel for the evening. Our dinner reservations weren’t until 8:00pm and he didn’t have anything else planned for the day. He was just going to play it by ear and we would just stay at his place (because why would we spend money to stay at a hotel in town). Super romantic -_- He asked “Well, what it is? How long will it take? Does it cost any money? Etc.” I said “Nope, just show up and act like you like me!” “Okay, I guess.” he said rather unenthusiastically, “If that’s what you want to spend the day doing.”

I messaged Lavel back the next morning “We’re in!” I would be lying if I told you the thought didn’t cross my mind that, “OMG maybe this will be it!” But I quickly reminded myself that, “No Diane, this is real life. Not some fantasy land where all of your perfectly documented photographer, proposal dreams come true!” I am the type of person who wears all my emotions on my sleeve and you KNOW if I am upset or bummed out. So I talked myself out of this idea, because I didn’t want to risk ruining an entire weekend because I got in my own head and was expecting something to happen, and then didn’t. The whole week, Dave was being a poop about the shoot. Making it feel like a big inconvenience since we had to go buy him a shirt for his suit (queue my eye roll). I met up with Lavel to try the dress on, the Thursday prior, and after that I was convinced that “no it’s definitely just a styled shoot that we’re filling I for.”

The day of the shoot finally arrived and I spent the majority of the late morning and afternoon with Kim for hair and makeup. Dave was being such a downer, telling me how a bunch of his buddies went up to Colorado to go snowboarding but we couldn’t go for the long weekend because I committed us to doing this shoot! To add to it, he started feeling sick and nauseous after we went out to eat for lunch! UGH! On the drive over he said he would be a good sport and understood the commitment I made to Lavel and couldn’t back out. He promised to make the best of it and that we could still enjoy what was left of the weekend together.

Once we arrived at the shoot, the location was GORGEOUS! The whole team, photographers, set designers, florists, and helping hands who put it together were there. They had an entire set decorated with florals, candles, and cake. We photographed in a couple different locations before migrating to the main setup. They got some “groom’s” portraits, and then Lavel said “Okay, let’s get a few shots of your hair from the back” After a minute or so, I heard Dave start talking to me close behind. Normally his voice is higher up since he is almost a foot taller than me. But this time it sounded lower than usual… I thought, “No way!” Lavel, instructed me to “Go ahead and turn around.” When I did, Dave was on one knee with ring in hand. I WAS SHOCKED! He looked so handsome, nervous, and emotional all at the same time. He started by saying he had prepared and practiced a big ol’ long spiel, but now being in the moment couldn’t remember any of it.

But most importantly, Dave said, “I love you. Diane Marie Anderson, will you marry me?”

I nodded, and immediately said, “YES!”

We kissed, hugged, and honestly, everything in that moment was just one ecstatic blur. It was SO special! Not to mention my engagement ring was STUNNING (great job babe)! After we had our moment, everyone else came rushing up so hug and congratulate us! I came to find out, that every single one of them were in on the plan, and knew this was all a big setup for a surprise proposal. Dave and Lavel had it planned for over a month! Also, he admitted he was feeling perfectly fine and was just acting negative and sick to throw me off! WHAT A BRAT! But clearly, it worked! We ended the shoot celebrating by popping a bottle of champagne as the sun set behind us. It was the most magical moment I’ve ever experienced! Afterwards we headed to our dinner reservations in Santa Fe where he had, in fact, booked a romantic place for us to stay that evening. I have never felt so special and loved, that this man would do all of this for me! It was perfect!

How They Met

It all started with a funk, a good friend’s encouragement and a handy-dandy cell phone. I had been down in the dumps, not your usual bad day, but one that was lasting quite a while. My amazing friends (who all live out of town) regularly calling to check on me and see how things are going. My good friend Tanya called me up one day and said, “You need to get out! Go meet people, have fun, go on dates!”

“But I don’t want to date anyone! Besides, dating is so exhausting and it’s next to impossible to find someone with all the qualities and similar values I’m looking for. I’m just going to die alone in my tiny house with Gemma (my husky) and 20 other dogs I adopt.” I replied.

I could practically hear Tanya rolling her eyes at me through the phone. “You always jump into serious relationships right away! Just go on dates, meet people, have fun, even if you don’t see them as forever’!” Tanya continued, “But DO NOT get into a relationship!” Now, if you were to be on the outside looking in, this would seem like solid advice. Unfortunately, I have a track record of going from serious relationship to serious relationship, all ending in devastation. Knowing me, and this pattern, this was terrible advice (well I guess maybe not because now look where we are…Let’s continue)! I hate the whole “dating scene,” lame small talk about “Where are you from? What do you do for a living? What’s your favorite color? Blah, blah, blah…” over and over again. It’s awkward, weird, and I just don’t like it…moving on.

“Ugh fine!” I said begrudgingly, “I’ll give it a shot, what do I have to lose.”

“Exactly!” Tanya said.

I work full time and run my photography business. So between going to my office, having my head buried in editing photos, the grocery store, gym, and the dog park on a weekly basis, my opportunities of meeting new guys is pretty low. I see the same people, at all the same places, all the time. I had never tried a dating app before, thought they were for hookups or losers (if I’m being honest), but figured “Let’s see what good ol’ Albuquerque has to offer.” I felt like I was making a “sort-of” effort on Tanya’s advice, so my curiosity grew on this downloading a dating app idea. After some of my research I had come to the conclusion that Tinder was too “hookup-y,” Bumble wasn’t my jam since I had to make the first move, so Hinge it was! Their slogan is “Designed to be deleted.” I thought was cute and cheesy all at the same time.

Swiping through I found that I definitely have a type; Clean-cut, tall, white guys. Anywhere else in the country this may not seem that unusual, but being from New Mexico this is a rarity. I discovered that most of the men who fit into that category were only in the land of Entrap-eer I mean, Enchantment because of the military (Lord help me). As I was swiping along I came across this cute guy, Dave from Cincinnati, he fit “the type” and as I got further down the page I see his career is listed as MILITARY! The story could have gone a different way, but I swiped left or hit X and said to myself “Nope not going there!” A few days later, I received a notification of one of my photos getting a like and message in my inbox. Looking at who it was from, none other than Cincinnati Dave! The message read, “Hey! Where have you been all my life? And is that rafting on the Rio Grande?” Cheesy, but at least he made more of an effort to start a conversation than just a corny pick up line! In the back of my mind I heard Tanya’s words ”Just go on dates, meet people, have fun!” So we started to chat back and forth.

After periodically messaging back and forth for a week or so, Halloween was upon us and neither of us had any fun plans. As we beat around the bush, Dave came out and said “Are we like tip toeing around possibly trying to get together for two stepping tonight but somewhat not committing because we are both contemplating just staying in?”

Ha ha, I replied, “Maaaayyybeee”

We decided to keep it “low key” by meeting up at a brewery, and I told him I was bringing my dog. Once we decided on a time I asked, “You’re dressing up right? Or are you too scared?” and snickered to myself.

He replied, “Oh wow wow wow. I mean if you’re going to, I can” I messaged back with a Napoleon Dynamite GIF, motioning a “YESSS!” response. Dave replied, “Dear Lord help me”

I LOVE dressing up, for anything, anywhere, for any reason big or small. So I spent my afternoon running around to throw together an epic, and very last minute Little Red Riding Hood and big bad Grandma Wolf costume for Gemma and I. This resulted in me running very late, to the point where I’m pretty sure Dave thought I stood him up. I mean in Dave’s mind putting together all of the factors: Halloween, in costume, bringing her dog, and running over an hour late…it didn’t look promising. But there is good news, eventually we made it!

Low-key was definitely not the vibe of the downtown brewery this Halloween night. As I stood along the edge of the patio waiting for a response to my “I’m finally here!” text, I look down and some guy is petting Gemma. Once he stands up I realize “Oh I think this is the guy I’m supposed to meet.” And say “Hi! Are you Dave?” It was. He was dressed as a priest with beer in hand. One of the first things he said to me was, “Me and my buddies have been drinking since 5. I didn’t think you were actually going to show.”

Since I drove myself there and had no intentions of drinking (especially meeting a complete stranger, downtown, at night, by myself on Halloween!) my first thought was, “Oh dear, this is going to be a GREAT first date!” sarcastically.

We attempted conversation in the loud and busy bar atmosphere, being interrupted every couple of minutes to someone asking to pet my dog. It was going well, as I’m sure you could imagine. Eventually we decided to migrate to a different bar to go two-stepping (which I love). I offered to drive Dave and his friends, if they didn’t mind dog-hair and sharing the backseat with Gemma.

After arriving at the other bar, to my pleasant surprise, Dave was a much better dancer than he made himself out to be. Maybe he was just trying not to show all of his cards, or maybe it was the liquid courage! Either way I had fun! When I called it a night and decided to make my way home, he was such a gentleman and offered to walk me to my car. He kept apologizing and saying how sorry he was that I probably didn’t have a good time. I laughed and said, “Well it was my idea to meet up on Halloween! I had fun and was definitely entertaining to say the least!” “Well I’d really like to take you on a normal date, during the daytime, like lunch or a hike if I could see you again.” He said. I chuckled, smiled, and replied, “I would like that.”

Dave paused for a second, somewhat surprised that I agreed. I saw the wheels of contemplation turning quickly in his head, then he leaned in a kissed me. I realized I had never kissed anyone on a first date in all of my 28 years, and I thought, “Bold move Dave, bold move!” I said goodnight, got into my car, and drove away with a cheesy grin on my face.

Our second date, went a gazillion times better! He offered to pick me up from Rio Rancho, which if you live in Albuquerque is a feat in and of itself. Our lunch date ended up turning into an all-day affair, not ending until late in the evening. After the day was done, I plopped my hands over my cheeks and said to myself “Did that really happen? No way!”

The moral of our ridiculous dating app introduction and terrible first date story, is that you don’t have do or say all the right things. What’s supposed to be will be, and you just can’t deny it! Well Hinge, I guess I am a testament to your slogan! I deleted the app after only using it for two weeks, and the rest is history!

 

How did you come up with your color scheme/theme?

We wanted something a bit more edgy, elegant and representative of us both. Also, my favorite color is green!

Any wedding planning tips for future couples?

Get a wedding planner! Haha! But seriously, get a wedding planner!! I would've lost my cookies trying to do all of the planning, searching for vendors, replanning when the date had to be changed! Kris, being familiar with the Nashville wedding scene was able to provide great connections and suggestions based on the vision that I had. Seriously priceless!

What was one of the most stressful things about wedding planning?

Well, I feel like we are a unique situation. Since we moved to Japan in the middle of wedding planning all of the stress from preparing to move, finalizing as much as I could before I left, actually moving, and everything in-between just compiled. Having to jump through hoops because of travel restrictions to even make coming back to the states possible was BY FAR the most stressful aspect. It was something that was largely out of our control, and completely at the mercy of the US military.

I think if I hadn't had Kris as my planner though, having to cancel our original date and move everything to August would've been the most overwhelming hands down. Because of the 14 hour time difference, it made communicating during reasonable hours it wildly challenging. Thankfully, because Kris was my liaison and point of contact for all of our vendors it greatly relieved much of this stress! Like I said, hire a planner, just do it!

Kris WoodComment