Two brides, Cristal from Seattle and Maura from New York City, recently got engaged and are beginning their wedding planning journeys. We sat down with them to hear their stories: how they met their partners, what the proposals were like, what they’re envisioning for their weddings, and how they’re approaching the planning process.
Their experiences are unique, but the excitement (and yes, a little overwhelm) is something every newly engaged couple can relate to.
Maura, tell me about your fiancé — how did you two meet?
Jacob and I met in grad school when we were both getting our MBAs. We didn’t overlap in many classes our first year, but we first got to know each other through student government (dorky, I know) where we were Social Chairs for our respective cohorts. I blatantly rode his coattails as the better event planner, and one thing led to another and we were dating by the end of our first year. Though we spent our summer apart (me in NYC, Jacob in Chicago), he made several trips out to see me and by August it was game over.
Cristal, same for you. How did you and your partner meet?
Tom and I met over Hinge - we both claim to have sent the first message! Our first date was over cocktails in South Lake Union (he was 20 minutes late, but thankfully, the rest of the date went better!), which led to a dinner date the same week.
"We bonded over our love of the outdoors and finding the best pizza in Seattle."
Maura, how did the proposal happen?
As I mentioned, Jacob is a pretty meticulous planner. On an especially beautiful day in September, he recreated our first date in NYC. We went to the same cocktail bar and Vietnamese restaurant in my old neighborhood that I had brought him too on his first visit to see me during our intern summer. He then baited me on a walk to Prospect Park with promises of visiting the dog beach, which was an easy sell. As we started to walk home, he brought me to one of the park’s waterfalls that he had previously scoped out for its privacy. With the beautiful late summer weather, it was a bit more crowded than he expected when he got down on one knee, but luckily for him I said yes.
Cristal, what was it like for you? Total surprise or did you see it coming?
I knew the proposal was coming soon, but didn’t know the exact day! We hiked up to a lake outside of Seattle. This is one of our favorite hikes, and we do it annually for Tom’s birthday. We had some friends with us who were in on the secret. They spent their time at the lake scoping out secluded photography spots and also hiked up a bottle of champagne. After an afternoon at the lake, Tom popped the question near the edge of the lake, and we got so lucky with beautiful weather and no crowds!
Maura, what was the first thing you felt or did after saying yes?
I was just so happy. We had such a fun day.
"I would’ve had fond memories of it no matter what, but the new hardware certainly didn’t hurt."
Jacob arranged for our friends to meet us at our local bar in Brooklyn right after the proposal so we walked straight there. After some quick family FaceTimes on the street, we went in, met our friends, and cracked the champagne!
Cristal, how did you celebrate those first few days?
After enjoying our champagne at the lake, we hiked out. I fell and dislocated my shoulder on the way down, so it turned into a day of high-highs and low-lows! After getting back into cell service, we made some quick calls to family to share the news and then enjoyed dinner in town. We spent the rest of the weekend in Leavenworth - we floated the river, played mini-golf, and just enjoyed being engaged. The whole weekend felt very “us” and it couldn’t have been more perfect!
Maura, when you picture your wedding, what’s the vibe you’re going for?
My biggest hope is that when people leave our wedding they think ‘that was the most fun wedding I’ve ever been to’. I’m not looking for anything overly traditional or stuffy, but instead a cool, sophisticated party that is reflective of both Jacob and I as a couple.
Cristal, what do you have in mind when you envision your wedding day?
I’m not the girl who has been envisioning my wedding day my whole life - so I am still trying to figure that out! I do know that I want to focus on the fun and bringing the most important people in our lives together. We will have a lot of family flying in, so I’m excited for a weekend of activities!
Maura, how’s the planning process feeling so far? Fun, stressful, somewhere in between?
"We’re in early days so trying to embrace the fun aspect."
Right now we’re mostly focused on finding inspiration for the general vibe we’re hoping to achieve before getting too bogged down in the details. The most surprising part was people asking us where and when the wedding would be the day after we got engaged! There will be plenty of time to get into the nitty gritty of it all, so trying to enjoy our engagement bubble for as long as possible.
Cristal, how do you and your fiancé think you’ll balance the wedding planning responsibilities?
We tend to work very collaboratively in most areas of life, so I hope wedding planning will be similar! We started with conversations about a shared vision of the day and what the most important parts of the day are to us. Next step is to divide and conquer based on our strengths - But with regular check-ins to make sure both of our voices are heard!
Maura, what part of planning are you most excited about? Any part you’re dreading?
What I’m really most excited for is having all of our loved ones in one room at the same time! I’m really hoping that everyone will leave our wedding and feel like it wasn’t generic but very ‘Jacob and Maura’, so figuring out how to integrate all of our personal touches is something I’m really looking forward to. I think the hardest part will be managing all of the admin aspects. Luckily Jacob is the king of the to-do list, since personal admin is a bit of an achilles heel for me (don’t look at my pile of unopened mail please). We both have pretty demanding jobs, so I will definitely be leaning on him to keep me on track.
Cristal, what do you hope your guests take away from your day?
I want our guests to feel welcomed and to have FUN! I want them to not just feel like attendees but truly feel like a part of the day - because each one of them plays an important part in our story! I’m excited to make a wedding that feels like “us” and I hope our guests see that. Tom’s family lives across the country, and I’m really excited to have everyone in one room for the first time.
Maura, why did you decide to use Plannerd.com?
I went to 7 weddings this past summer alone (woof…) and I’ve seen firsthand what the planning process looks like. There was a huge difference between the couples I knew who were organized and actually enjoying the process, and those who were stressed out and frazzled. I want the next year plus to be fun for Jacob and me. Plannerd gives us all the tools to stay ahead of the game and truly enjoy wedding planning.
Cristal, what’s been the most helpful part of using it so far?
I work in finance, so I do love my spreadsheets. But I’ve never planned a wedding before and don’t know where to begin! It can feel overwhelming.
"Plannerd’s to-do list is a great place to start. It helped to ground us in the process and tackle things one at a time."
I also love the vendor and contract tracking feature. It’ll help us immensely to stay on track and stay organized with all of the payments!
Maura, what advice would you give other newly engaged couples?
Your wedding is about you! Everyone has their own vision of what their perfect wedding looks like, but it’s important to stay aligned to what matters most to you as a couple. Invest in the aspects that are most memorable to you, and try to ignore the noise from others.
Cristal, same question — any tips or perspective you’d share?
First, just enjoy the engagement! Celebrate it, enjoy it, and you don’t need to jump straight into the nitty-gritty of planning. This will help you to enjoy this special time in your life (it goes by quick!), and it will help you move into the wedding planning with a clearer vision of what you and your partner want for the day.
Cristal and Maura are proof that wedding planning doesn’t have to be a stress marathon. Between engagement stories, venue visions, and figuring out what actually matters, each bride is making the process her own. With tools like Plannerd keeping the details in check, they can focus on the fun parts: celebrating with the people they love.
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