Our friends at Minted are back at it with another love story from one of their oh-so sweet couples (if you missed the first one, here it is)! Today we have Jessica and Duncan, who used Minted for their super cute save the dates, and we couldn’t have gotten more butterflies from the story of how they met, how they asked, and some of the cute ways they personalized their wedding!
Oh and if you’re wanting to use Minted yourself, they’re giving HowTheyAsked readers 20% off your first wedding purchase, using the code HHAWED20. Or, if you want to get samples, use the code HHA10FREE to receive $10 credits. Both are valid through 1/31/2016!
How we met
I went to London to learn how to make something sweet, but I found something much sweeter.
I moved to London to attend culinary school for pastry and baking. After the first week, bringing home literally boxes of pastries, I knew I had to join a gym. The first day I walked in, I was introduced to one a the trainers, Duncan, a handsome man who jumped off the pull-up bar, and there was an immediate attraction—it helped that he was shirtless at the time.
In first class I took with him, in the middle of an exercise, I clumsily landed with my foot in the chalk bucket. “There’s always one,” he quipped. That first week he kept calling me Rebecca, and I didn’t really correct him until he tried introducing me to someone else as Rebecca. Duncan is still terrible with names, which I suspect is why he calls everyone “sweetheart,” though he has mine down.
A couple weeks later I was tricked into a first date. Duncan told me that everyone goes out after the Friday workout, so I waited for him to finish his shift. When he got off, he said he couldn’t find anyone, so it was just the two of us. During dinner, at a much nicer restaurant than anticipated, I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Gym clothes, sweaty, are those pit stains? Am I on a date right now? The waiter, with his tinkerbell tattoo, proved to a good conversation starter, as we were both a bit shy. Afterward, I called my friend and told her that “I think” I went on a date with the trainer I have a crush on. The next day, in earshot, one of Duncan’s gym friends asked, “Why did you ditch me last night?” Busted. That restaurant ended up being the place of our engagement party.
how they asked
We were engaged April 12th, 2015, outside Five Crowns restaurant, the only British restaurant in Corona Del Mar, California. He was visiting for three months, after we had been dating long distance for two years. I was expecting a proposal during his trip, and it seemed like the perfect timing when Duncan and my family took a trip to Hawaii, but it didn’t happen there. A couple weeks before the proposal, Duncan had talked about missing having “Sunday Roast,” which we would do in London while I was living there. So, one Sunday a couple weeks later, it wasn’t suspicious that he wanted to go. This was not the day I expected a proposal. I made a huge breakfast of pancakes, and after filling up, told him we might want to do Sunday Roast another time. He insisted, which wasn’t suspicious because he can always eat more. We were supposed to go at 11 and were still in pajamas at 10.
Of course, I decided that this morning I needed to get my eyebrows waxed. So, soon-to-be fiance in tow, I headed to the Salon, which wasn’t open until 11. While I was killing time at TJ Maxx buying a spatula, Duncan took my phone, texted my sister to delay the setup at Five Crowns, and deleted the messages before giving it back to me. Back at my place with a reddened brow, I asked him if we were going to get dressed for Sunday Roast (workout clothes are our usual). He said he was wearing jeans, which is fancy for him, so I reluctantly got dressed and put on some makeup to cover my reddened eyebrows.
As we rounded the corner to the restaurant, I saw roses next to the British phone booth and a book, “I Love You to the Moon and Back,” which is something special we say to each other.
He sat me on the bench and told me how the first time he said “I love you” was on a bench outside a pub in London—and this was the closest thing he could find. He stood me up and got down on one knee, but the rest is a blur because I was crying so much. It was unexpected and perfect.
our stationery from minted
We chose Minted after our wedding planner recommended it. After seeing the Minted samples, I knew it would be perfect. I loved how seamless it was to address all envelopes, just uploading them from a spreadsheet. We chose the Gold Rush Foil-Pressed Save The Date because we wanted something simple and elegant, something that would show off the photo and be customizable enough to adjust the text to fit the photo.
Editor’s note: if you’re wanting to use Minted yourself, they’re giving HowTheyAsked readers 20% off your first wedding purchase, using the code HHAWED20. Or, if you want to get samples, use the code HHA10FREE to receive $10 credits. Both are valid through 1/31/2016!
Again, this design is called “Gold Rush” by Annie Clark!
This post was happily brought to you by our friends at Minted! Save 20% with the code HHAWED20!