The Engagement

November 16th, 2009. It was Justin’s birthday, so we both took the day off from work and spent the day in the city. We went to the Art Institute to look at some art, then we went to Ed Debevic’s, mostly because we wanted to take some photos in the photobooth. It’s kind of a tradition for us.

Well, the photobooth there had been replaced by one of those newer digital ones. While the excitement of choosing my own border was tempting (that is sarcasm, in case you can’t tell), we weren’t going to foul our day in such a manner. We both firmly believe that it’s old school photobooths or die.

Justin was very insistent that we find a “real” photobooth. I was kind of like, whatever. I just wanted to get going so we could hopefully beat some of the traffic (it was heading on to rush hour). But he insisted, so I visited Photobooth.net on my phone and found that there was a “real” photobooth located at Reckless Records. So we went there.

I should have known that something was up when Justin didn’t even glance at any of the vinyl.

We (rather, he) decided that we should do a nice batch first, since we’re kind of prone to do the goofy thing. This should have been my second clue that he had something else planned.

So we settle in the booth, and after the first shot flashes, Justin reaches down and then brings up the ring and asks me to marry him!

I was completely shocked (and blinded by the shiny!) that I completely forgot that we were in the photobooth. So the second and third shots aren’t that fabulous. But I came to in time for the last shot, which is why I’m grinning like a fool.

Kiersten has declared 2010: Essenpreis Weddingpooloza (she and Wes got engaged the month before). We picked October 30th for our wedding date… we are both big fans of Halloween, and always have talked about having a Halloween wedding!

The Honeymoon

For pecuniary reasons, we’re holding off on an “official” honeymoon for the time-being.  Our goal is to save up and head somewhere nice next summer.  Possibilities at the moment include Hawaii, Disneyworld, Badlands National Park, or Clearfield Pennsylvania… home of the World’s Largest Hamburger (Kelly’s unaware of this one at the moment).

In the meantime, we’ll probably head to the Dells for a few days after the wedding to relax and enjoy some time off… and because cheese curds and Robot World are AWESOME.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns, some advice or just want to say hi … you can email us at justinandkelly@essenpreiswedding.com.