Dude. Picture literally a fairy tale wedding – add a little bit of rain and mint umbrellas and an amazing cast of family and friends – and you get Kim & Brandon’s wedding. I loved what Brandon wrote for the how the proposal all went down so I am going to let you guys read it instead of paraphrasing this time. It’s just too cute!

I started looking for a ring for Kimberly back in December, since I knew she was the one. I wasn’t sure when I was going to ask her to marry me yet at that point. Now, for those of you who know Kimberly, you know her flare for the theatrics. I knew this proposal had to be creative, spontaneous and unconventional. Do I take her up in a helicopter? Maybe a hot air balloon? Do I rent a limo to New York City and ask her there? All of these came to mind but none of them felt like they expressed what I wanted for this special occasion. One of Kimberly’s other passions is Disney World. No, not just because she loves Mickey Mouse. It’s much more than that to her. The characters, the acting, the shows, the hospitality, all contribute to an overall experience. Oh and it doesn’t hurt that it happens to be located in a place where it is 80 degrees all year round, given Kimberly’s aversion to cold 🙂 For most of the time I had known Kimberly to this point she had been preparing for the princess half marathon in Disney world. I started to think this might be the perfect opportunity to pop the question. We will be somewhere warm – check! We will be in one of Kimberly’s favorite places on earth – check! We already have a trip scheduled so she won’t be expecting it at all – CHECK! So now, how and where to do it? I considered at dinner one evening but that was going to be a bit too traditional for this proposal. If you are familiar with any of the Disney races, you know that most of the girls, and some guys I might add, dress as princesses for the race. Of course, Kimberly took this opportunity to dress as her favorite princess, Snow White. I thought to myself, what better way to ask my princess to marry me than to be waiting at the finish line dressed as her prince? This was it! I went through three iterations of costumes, because apparently only foreign countries offer such costumes in adult male sizes. They also all seem to shut down for the entire month of January to participate in a festival, unrelated to the aforementioned prince costume. Must be nice……but you are seriously impacting my plans. After several trips to party city and Joanne fabrics, I finally had the perfect blend of pirate, vampire and peasant that, when put all together, made for a pretty dashing prince. Now we come to the morning of the race. This is what we’ve all been training for! Not wanting to impact any of the other patrons, Disney was kind and accommodating enough to start the 3 hour race at 5:30am. “Wow, that’s early” you might be saying to yourself, and you are right. It was early. But in order to make it to the start line in time, the last bus left our resort at 4am, which meant we were up at 3am getting ready. Kate and Kurt Bradshaw joined us for the weekend. Kate ran the race with Kimberly and was clueless to the plans I had for later that morning. Once we dropped the girls off at the bus, Kurt and I headed back to the hotel where I informed him of what was to come. He immediately perked up from his bleary eyed driving state and went into plan mode. After what seemed like the longest few hours ever, Kurt and I jumped back in the car to catch a bus to the race park. Any other time you enter a Disney park with a bag they simply fondle your bag and waive you through. Not today. My pirate boots hanging from my backpack must have created a concern and they asked to go through my entire bag. Really? Am I the only person you’ve seen with a costume of some sort today? We are in Disney world. After convincing them the contents of my bag was safe and there was no intent to harm people with my cape, they let me through. In true superman form, I then changed into my costume in a portopot. This is a very delicate dance that requires precision and gumption to perform a wardrobe change in such a way. We were now down to the wire. I should mention that during registration, we were able to sign up for runner tracking, which Kurt and I both did. Throughout the race, he was receiving updates on Kate’s progress but I was not receiving anything about Kim? Was she with Kate? Is she stuck in line waiting for a picture with Cinderella? Did a toy story soldier order her to do one too many push-ups? I had no idea. Kurt finally gets a text that Kate had crossed the finish line. I am waiting anxiously next to him thinking that every Snow White who passes could be Kimberly. “Maybe I should call her” Kurt says. “Yeah I think you should” I reply. Kurt dials his phone and Kate answers. Kurt – “Is Kim with you, Brandon’s in the dark” Kate – “what do you mean is Kim with me? Yes, she’s been with me the entire time!” Kurt – “we were wondering where you guys were” Kate – (to Kim) “they want to know what’s taking us so long” Kim – “you tell them we just ran 13 miles, we will get there when we get there!” Kurt hangs up – “I don’t think she’s in a good mood” At this point I have to ask myself, do I abort mission? No, you’ve come this far, push through. Several minutes later I see Kimberly walking towards us with Kate. She stopped and said “Kate, my blood sugar is low, please look at Brandon, is he wearing a costume? Why is he wearing a costume?” I approach Kimberly and ask her if I can talk to her. Still confused, tired, hungry, drained, I take her hand and ask her: “Kimberly, will you forever be my princess? Will you marry me?”

Of course, she said yes!! And then had a wedding totally fit for a princess.

 

Venue: Engineers Club

Ceremony: Baltimore Basilica

Planning & Design: Jillian Jenkins of Elle Ellinghaus Designs

Florist: My Flower Box

Band: Millenium

Videographer: Lee Russell Films
Ceremony Music: Two Rivers Chamber Music

Harpist: Laura Stokes

Paper Goods: EAlexDesigns

Linens: Linen Hero

Photobooth: Pixilated

Valet: Jay’s Valet Service

Transportation: American Limousines

Rentals: Vintage Affairs