A night I'll never forget.
THE NIGHT | DECEMBER, 22 2019
Brian had family coming into town for Christmas (or so I thought) which I was so excited about. One of his sister's lives in Houston and his only brother lives in Las Vegas so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like.
He played the night off as if we were going to a fancy Christmas party for one of his sister's friends so we needed to get dressed up. He hadn't mentioned these plans before his siblings got here. Had I known this was our plan, I probably would have bought a brand new dress but had to make due with something I already owned. The dressiest-dress I had at the moment was a sparkly little Gianni Bini number I had previously worn for my birthday night out in October that I found at Dillard's on sale for $100. I was secretly hoping to get engaged on my birthday night so it worked out that this turned out to be my actual engagement dress! Since my dress was pretty fancy, Brian asked me if he should wear a suit to the party. I absolutely love when he gets dressed up so I told him sure - why not!? Little did I know, he had planned this all out perfectly.
His sister and brother had dinner plans with "friends" and then we were supposed to meet up with them for the "Christmas party" after dinner. Brian took me to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Gaetano's, and we waited to see when we got the go-ahead to meet up for the Christmas party. Supposedly, they were still finishing up dinner as we had finished so we had some time to kill before the party. Brian told me he wanted to take me somewhere for a surprise dessert. By the way, none of this was out of the ordinary to me. Whenever Brian asks where I want to go to dinner, I almost always choose Gaetano's. I am a stick-to-what-you know-and-love rather than venture out type of restaurant chick - lol! Also, not having dessert is not an option for me (I have the worst sweet tooth) so it wasn't unusual for him to pick somewhere to get dessert other than the restaurant. I thought nothing of anything and was just excited to be getting dressed up and hanging out with his family, all together.
We got in an Uber and Brian told me he wasn't going to tell me where he picked for dessert - so I got out of the car and realized we were at The Clock Tower in Downtown Denver. I had always seen this building but had never been inside. It was beautifully lit up for the holidays and I remember the lobby being full of people. There was a sweet lady holding a clipboard by the elevator and Brian asked her completely casually if we were allowed to go up to the top of the tower to see the city. She seemed a little busy but told us she could let us up for a few minutes - she was setting up for a holiday party that was starting soon so we couldn't stay for long. I remember thinking, wow, this lady is so nice! She's letting us up here when we aren't supposed to be - just so we could see the Christmas lights in Denver. Talk about holiday spirit! LOL. We got off the elevator and I remember looking at all the decorations, thinking they were for the party that the lady had mentioned. I kept walking and wanting to go up to the next floor when I felt Brian gently pushing me into a room that I didn't think we were supposed to be in, so I was resisting a bit.
The floor was sprinkled in rose petals leading to a single table with a bottle of champagne, two glasses and chocolate. I truly thought we were in someone else's party space until our song started playing over the speakers. I turned around and suddenly realized what was happening. I could not stop smiling. Brian grabbed my hands and started to tell me about how much he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. He got down on one knee, said my full name (kudos, babe!) and asked me to marry him. The ring was everything I had ever dreamed of and I couldn't believe he was putting it on my finger!
After I said yes, we sat and enjoyed the champagne and chocolate and talked about how excited we were. My cheeks started to hurt from smiling so much. I texted all my friends and family and they were all so happy to hear the news. Brian said he had one more surprise planned for me and took me outside across the street to Corridor 44, the champagne bar. As we walked around the corner, I heard a very familiar toddler scream, and looked at Brian. We walked into the back room and both of our entire families for us. Cue the tears - there everyone was (whom I had just texted), waiting to celebrate with us. I couldn't believe it. My sister was supposed to be on a trip - but there she was with my brother in law and my nephew in the cutest "my auntie's getting married" onesie. My parents, our family friends, Brian's mom and brother and sister - I was in total disbelief that he had gotten our families together for such a special night. I turned around and my best friend, Rachel, who lives in California, was standing there. Cue more tears. We opened gifts from our sweet family members and celebrated the night with his siblings and my best friend out in Denver. There was no fancy Christmas party - his siblings were in town to celebrate their baby brother getting engaged.
Brian did such an amazing job and thoughtfully planned every single little detail, it meant the absolute world and more to me. I could not have dreamt this up and it was a night I will truly never forget. I feel so incredibly lucky to have found someone who is so caring, generous and loving. I cannot wait for him to be my husband.
THE RING | THE DIAMOND RESERVE
Brian designed my ring with The Diamond Reserve in Denver, Colorado. He loved working with the owner, Kaeleigh, and the fact that he got to make something that was unique and special for me. I have been dropping hints to Brian about the type of ring I've wanted since the night we first met LOL - oval with a skinny band and halo and he delivered exactly that. The Diamond Reserve specializes in GIA-Certified loose diamonds and has such a stunning collection of engagement rings. They work with you one-on-one to create a custom ring. After your consultation, you pick out the specific GIA diamond and chat about the style and look of the ring, they then create digital renditions of the ring with your diamond to show you how it will look before it's made.
Once approved, they put the ring into production and wa-lah!
Brian hasn't stopped raving about how personalized his experience was and how helpful the ladies at The Diamond Reserve are! I can't wait to go in and get my engagement ring cleaned and pick out our wedding bands!
X,
Soon-to-be Mrs. Bratcher