Dah Dum di-Dah... Brick and Pony are getting hitched

From the moment she opened the stunning antique ring box, I knew it: the next 12 months of my life would be obsessively dominated by Pinterest.

And I mean ‘obsessively dominated’ quite genuinely.  Pinterest, from a wedding planning perspective, is not something you can casually glance at while waiting to meet a friend for coffee, or routinely check-out for the 10mins you can sneak wifi on the tube around Gloucester Road.  This is hunched-over, profusely sweating, hand-jarring trawling in 3-6hour chunks.  This is over-active brain, drift-off-to-sleep-at-3am-with-the-iPad-still-in-your-hand stuff.

So while I genuinely don’t think she knew what she was getting herself in for (bless her), Lisa and I are getting married.  Dah dum di-dah and so on and so forth.

I should say that I have been meaning to write this post for almost a month now (26 days to be precise).  Basically, from the time she whisked me away to Paris and asked that we spend the remainder of our lives pairing each others' socks.  In fact, I have posts that I had written pre-engagement (when I decided I should be the sort of person who has pre-drafted witty, irreverent content rather than the week-late drivel I usually spout.  It's a journey), but it didn’t feel right to post them before actually acknowledging that I am soon to marry the girl of my dreams. 

Thankfully I tumbled down the steps of a lecture theatre yesterday and severely sprained my ankle, now rendering me totally unable to walk but entirely able to tap away at my laptop.  The ‘thankfully’ bit was a joke.  And yes, I was presenting said lecture.  And yes, all 50 students looked absolutely horrified. And yes, at least 5 of them thought I had tumbled to my death. 

And yes, it was really quite funny.

So, now with all the time in the world for blogging, let me tell you about Paris.  I didn’t actually think real people had surprise birthday trips planned for them where they were carried away to the world’s most romantic cities and treated to the most incredible, special, and beautifully planned itineraries - including all of the things they could ever have dreamed of doing, and then some.  The love and thought and effort and attention Lisa put into making our engagement (and my 30th) the most special time of my life was utterly overwhelming and so incredibly humbling.  I’m not sure I can express how loved she makes me feel.  What a privilege.

And cascading from this trip of all trips, this birthday of all birthdays, this question popping of all question popping was the overwhelming love and support of all of our friends and family and, seemingly, our friends’ and families’ friends and families.  The genuine delight expressed at our big news left us - for certainly the first time in either of our lives - utterly speechless.

And so, let the planning begin!

If you'd like to keep up with our plans (and ruin for yourself all possible surprises about what the day will look like) do follow me here: www.pinterest.com/hayleyangell - I'd welcome any hints, tips or ideas as always. 

Brick and Pony are getting hitched - CHEERS!