Whitney Rife

We’re ENGAGED!!!

“When I saw you I fell in love, and you smiled because you knew.” -William Shakespeare

First off to my Fiancé,

Thank you for making me the happiest I have ever been, and happier than I ever dreamed I could be.

I never dreamed that I would find someone who challenged me to see the world in the way you do; a man who makes me laugh and love with abandon.  I didn’t believe that I could find a man who would remind me every single day to dream bigger, to work harder, and to open my heart to the possibilities of this beautiful life. I never realized that I could love anyone as much as I love you. 

Shawn, you are the reason that I fight so incredibly hard to be the best person that I can be.  You have breathed life and inspiration into this little piece of the universe, my world, and have made me even prouder of the woman I am today, because I am so loved by the incredible man you are.  I promise to inspire you the way you inspire me, to lift you up when you falter, to always make weird squirrel noises, and forever eat Athens Super Subs with you, as long as you will eat Jimmy-Z Hibachi with me.

I promise to be your best friend, forever girlfriend, faithful wife, and the most amazing mother to our one day children, as I know you will be THE best father.  I cannot wait to have sons just like YOU and look forward to the day of telling our daughter to fairy tales DO come true.

Thank you for loving my family as much as you love me, and including them on our special engagement.
I am your honored to be your “Last Mate,” and will never quit falling in love with you.

I absolutely CANNOT wait to be married to YOU!

With love, hugs, kisses… And the promise of a lifetime together,

Your Rife future Wife!

Now to our “Real Life” Fairytale…

Every girl (whether they admit it or not) dreams of the day their price charming will get down on one knee and ask her to marry him.  “What will I be wearing (okay, maybe I only thought of this but…), where will it be, what color will my nails be painted, what will he say, who will be there…” On Saturday, December 10th, everything I ever dreamed my engagement to be, came true and far surpassed anything I could have ever imagined.

 Last Friday I was supposed to fly to Myrtle Beach for Shawn’s company Christmas party (he had put it in our shared calendar months ago).  I wasn’t really sure what to wear so thankfully I took a few different options.  My car had been in Myrtle Beach since Thanksgiving so my mom had to take me to the airport.  My flight was at 10 AM and we had about a 2 hour drive, so she picked me up at my apartment around 7:30 AM.  She was certainly in no rush but I was because I still had to run to the store to grab my headphones.  She finally got to my apartment and must have told me 50 times it was cold, I needed a jacket.  It was snowing, so I was already wearing a thick sweater and Sorel fur boots so I was like, uh…no I don’t.  No way I can take a suit case, rolling carry-on, my purse, computer bag, make up bag, AND carry a jacket trying to get from one terminal to the other in Atlanta airport, and I was already DYING of heat.  So I told her 51 times I was not taking a jacket.  Little did I know, I would NOT be flying to Myrtle Beach.

 On the way to the airport, I took a screenshot of an Instagram post posted by Wedded Wonderland and it read “I need a upper east side Manhattan Gossip girl type of excitement in my life.”  (Still having NO clue what was about to happen) We got to the airport around 9:30 AM and I was dying to go to the restroom, I had checked in the night before so we decided to “go on to the restroom” instead of checking my bags.  I was almost passed the Delta counter and all of the sudden jumps SHAWN BECKER jumps out from behind a big red Delta sign holding a handmade sign that said “NEW YORK?” (A little back information on the love of signs for us…the very first time Shawn told me he loved me, I had flown to Myrtle Beach and when I got off the plane he was holding a sign that said “Ms. Rife” and when he flipped it over it said “I love you!”) So for him to hold a sign that said “NEW YORK?” I was in total shock and loved it SO much.  I shouted “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I was SO confused and then came the MILLION questions, “What about your Christmas Party, How did you get here, We are going to New York?! What do I do about my flight, I’ve already checked in?!”  I looked at my mom and she was tearing up and then from behind a pole came my brother filming my reaction, then the UGLY cry started.  I was SO excited as NYC is my FAVORITE place on earth, and at Christmas time, I was ecstatic to go with Shawn.  I became a little worried because I was like “I SERIOUSLY ONLY BROUGHT LOUNGE CLOTHES AND A COUPLE OUTFITS FOR YOUR PARTY, I am going to FREEZE!” But he assured me we could go shopping.  As my dad would say, “she’ll find any excuse to go shopping,” haha.

 Our flight to New York left at 11 AM so I had a few minutes to take it all in and ask even more questions, starting with “well what are we going to do?!” He knows I LOVE the Lion King play so he got tickets for us to go see the play that night and we’d finish our day off with dinner at Del Friscos.  There, I saw a woman wearing a ring that I thought was beautiful, I said “babe, 50 years from now I will take that ring.”  He laughed and said “maybe we will have to go shopping for rings and you can show me what you really like.”  So this COMPLETELY through me off.  We were both pretty tired (as Shawn drove to Tazewell the day before to stay with my parents so my brother could get him to the airport before me) so after the play and dinner we called it a night.

 We woke up on Saturday and everything seemed pretty normal, other than I wanted to go to 5th Avenue to do some shopping. Struggling to find something to wear, Shawn was like “just wear whatever.  We can go shopping later. But I will let you in on something, I booked us a horse and buggy ride at 1 PM so lets grab brunch and then it should be about 1.” One of my FAVORITE things to do in NYC is the carriage ride so I was immediately excited.  We were staying near Central Park so I was like “Great, I’ll just wear these Uggs and we can come back here and change after the carriage ride.” His facial expression was like “OH NO! How am I going to tell her to NOT wear Uggs right now,” haha-not that I would have any clue, I am still in la la land.  So Shawn said “well, we wont be doing that much walking now, why don’t you just wear these Louboutins and if you’re uncomfortable we will come back and change after.” So I put the Louboutins on and away we went.  We enjoyed a few mimosas and brunch, and 1 PM came around pretty fast.  When we got over to Central Park, we had to wait a few minutes on our horse and buggy so we walked around a little.  Shawn calls me his squirrel so we checked out all the squirrels around, haha, even took some pictures of them.  Poor Shawn I’m sure at that time could care LESS about the squirrels but I enjoyed them and the pigeons.

Our horse and buggy finally pulled up and we got on, everything still to me was very normal.  The driver wasn’t doing that good of a job giving a tour tho, so I decided to tell Shawn what I knew about places and movies that had been filmed there.  We were almost to the FRIENDS fountain when the buggy driver told us this was where the toured ended, that we had to walk up the hill to finish our tour.  My first thought was “oh, cool, I haven’t ever been up through here…” I still had NO idea what was about to happen, so we walked on up the hill and came upon “Bow Bridge.”  There we walked over and we were over looking the pond, Shawn was holding me (it was a little chilly) and we were just talking about life and how we knew since April 2nd that we wanted to spend the rest of our life with each other.  All of the sudden, Shawn said he had a question to ask me, and I immediately stared FREAKING OUT, screaming, “OMG, yes, Yes, YES,” over and over.  It was the single happiest moment of my life.  He stood up and I couldn’t just quit hugging him! There were so many people on the bridge when we walked over it and after he asked me to marry him, they all stepped to the other side and were cheering and taking our pictures.  All of the sudden Shawn goes, “look right over there!” It was a photographer that had been capturing us the ENTIRE time, from the ride to the moment he asked me to marry him.  James, of Paparazzi Proposals, was absolutely amazing and so inviting! I thought the pictures stopped there but Shawn had actually booked a Central Park engagement session with him right after.  Shawn was even SO amazing that he booked us a session with my favorite photographer, Pasha Belman on Monday but we have had to reschedule due to work conflicts.

 We walked all over Central Park, taking pictures, enjoying the moment, and trying to take every second of it in.  There was one moment, we went under an area in Central Park where there are all of these BEAUTIFUL tiles on the ceiling.  There, we did a few pictures and when we went to walk away, Christmas Carolers starting singing “Noel.”  In that moment, I lost it.  I couldn’t believe how blessed we were and felt I was literally in a dream.  Shawn just stared wiping my tears and holding me so close.  I could feel God right there with us, as we both have our entire relationship.  I can remember this time last year, I didn’t ever think the whole “marriage” thing would ever be for me.  And I can remember on many occasions God kept telling me, “Keep faith in me Whitney, I have never left you and I will not let you down.  Keep dancing with me.”  The dance I shared at Courtney and Evans wedding with Shawn on April 2nd was the dance God kept assuring me that he’d let the perfect man cut in when it was time.
From the moment I saw Shawn at their wedding I knew he was the one.  I walked out of the ladies restroom the same time Shawn walked out of the mens room.  He took my breath away then and I walked right over to my brother after we chatted for a minute and told him, “That is the man I am going to marry one day.”

After our photos, we went back to the hotel.  I just wanted to BE for a moment with my FIANCE and we had to call our parents and siblings! My family knew it was happening around 1:30 PM so when we didn’t call until after 3, they were ALL beginning to sweat.  Hearing my dad and Shawn’s dad talking about how proud they were of us was so heartwarming and sweet.  That is all a father REALLY wants for their children and I am sure one of the hardest, most rewarding, happiest phone calls a dad will EVER receive.

We spent the rest of Saturday exploring New York and talking about EVERYTHING in the past 8 months, and our future.  I asked a million more questions about all of the planning, and the FIBS that Shawn, my brother, and mother has told me over the past couple of months, haha.

Leaving New York, it started snowing so hard, and we were both so sad to leave but couldn’t wait to get “home” and lay with each other.  I can remember telling Shawn on the plane, “I hope all of the surprises are over because my heart CANNOT take much more,” haha.  Sure enough, when we got back to the airport, I thought JUST my brother was picking us up, but there stood my mom, Brennan, Evan, and Courtney cheering with champagne, welcome home “Mr. and Future Mrs. Becker” signs, balloons, and the most beautiful pink roses I have ever seen.

 We have had the best time Face-timing loved ones and seeing their expressions.  I had to wait to get back to Tazewell to personally tell my loves of The Retail Therapist, and some family so we decided to wait until I was able to get home to publicly announce on Social Media, which has been the HARDEST PART NOT TELLING THE WORLD IMMEDIATELY.

The ring itself, is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  It is so feminine, and me, and it literally takes my breath away EVERY time I look down, which I can’t stop doing by the way.  When it comes to taking it off, forget it.  I even catch myself waking up in the middle of the night to make sure it’s still there.  The morning after we got engaged, I would ask him, are you sure I can take a shower with it on, what bout Cetaphil, can I put Cetaphil on my face with it on?!

 Even tho we had the most picture perfect engagement, getting engaged has been about much more than the engagement itself.  The rush of love from friends and family and all of you has been overwhelming.  The love being poured into this next step of our relationship is incredible and we are both, so very grateful.

All our love,
Mr. and the Soon-To-Be Mrs. Becker

 

 
Photos c/o Paparazzi Proposals

 

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2 Comments

  1. Hannah Young
    Author
    December 13, 2016 / 11:15 pm

    This is the most perfect thing I have ever seen!!!!!!! I am beyond happy/excited for you!!!! What a magical proposal!

    Reply
  2. Davida Janae
    Author
    December 14, 2016 / 5:15 am

    Omg congrats babe! I just got engaged too and it is the most overwhelming and wonderful feeling ever! I totally agree about the looking down at the ring, it's amazing! By the way, where is your scarf from?

    http://www.vidafashionista.com

    Reply
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