So You're EnGAYged, a LGBT wedding blog

Joanna Wilson Photography, one of our pro-gay vendors, sent us this engagement session full of broken down buildings in LA.

We met at the hair salon he (Joe) works for. I toyed with the idea of maybe recruiting him to be part of my hunt for a husband. I thought I ruined that when the first words I said to him as he washed my hair was, “I had to kick someone out of my bed to get here on time.” Not exactly the best pick-up line. I had confided in him everything: my past and current relationships among many other things. I really liked having someone to talk to that was on the outside, and since I was paying him for a service he had to be polite. I decided to not have him as a character in my romantic story and keep him as a confidant. I saw him twice as a client between November and December.

It was the moment I gave up desperately searching that things started to fall into place. I had made a decision that I was going to stop looking and trying so hard to find my soulmate, or whatever I thought I was looking for. Joe had never been in a relationship before meeting me because he never found anyone that was worth it. In the beginning of January, Joe had asked me on our first date. It was crazy, because I made a decision that I was not going to pursue him and keep him as a friend. I accepted and we went on the best date of my life. We were together for eight hours, starting with hiking on the beach (where we shared our first kiss on the rocks at sunset), then a hilariously and horrendously disgusting dinner at a raw restaurant, a movie, and ending at my favorite gay dive bar. We divulged our entire histories and wishes for our futures. That was the first and last time we have been to the beach, and that’s because we both hate it. I knew from the start I had met some one different, someone who would change my life.

For our one year anniversary, Joe had wanted to go on a little get-away. Me being a work-a-holic and super unromantic, I told him if he planned everything that I would go and not be a buzz-kill. We went to Catalina Island for two days, starting with a couple’s massage at the hotel’s spa and ending with a less-than-romantic dinner. We decided to have a private night in our suite, during which he nervously asked me to marry him. I of course said yes and I could not stop smiling. I haven’t stopped smiling since our first date.

We plan to have our wedding in two years. We were going to have two ceremonies, one in New York for my family and one in Los Angeles for his family and our friends. We decided to just have an all-day affair in Los Angeles, starting at the courthouse, then a brunch reception, ending with a night of dancing.

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