Allow me to introduce myself. That’s me, in the photos, along with my wonderful fiance, Alex. And it’s with great joy that I’m able to announce that I’m the newest contributor for Wed in Milwaukee. As a bride-to-be myself, I look forward to sharing this journey with each of you and am excited to explore the inside scoop of Milwaukee-area weddings.

Now, back to what you all came here for…

Although we attended the same college, it wasn’t until a Florida vacation that Alex and I met one another. What started as a friendship quickly turned into something more. Alex likes to say that he caught my eye by teaching me moves on the dance floor; I’ll argue that instead of asking for his dance advice, we were likely having a dance off. It’s just how we are.

Almost three years later, we’re still dancing and laughing through life. And last year, on a chilly November morning, I finally convinced Alex to run his first 5K with me. As we trotted through the Milwaukee Zoo, not once did I realize Alex was hoping for the race to finish quickly, for more reasons than one. With both of our parents behind us, we walked around the zoo post-race. Just moments later, Alex pulled me aside to thank me for pushing him to sign up for the 5K. A second after that, he poured his heart out to me, got down on one knee, I cried, swore (not my proudest moment), blacked out and eventually said yes to spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. It was the most amazing moment of my life and I’ll never forget it.

To top it off, Alex took me to a local restaurant where our families and all of my closest friends surprised me with balloons, bloody marys, hugs and tears. It was magical.

Now we’re anxiously planning our November 2013 wedding at the Riviera Ballroom in Lake Geneva. Don’t get me wrong, Milwaukee has beautiful venues and vendors and we did our fair share of looking before deciding (which I’ll get to later). For our engagement photos we chose the angelic Whitnall Park in Franklin, near Boerner Botanical Gardens, for the simplicity of the beautiful November afternoon.

Photographs: Jon Good Photography