the story of Mr. & Mrs. Corey Stansell

Little did I know, on June 11th as I was posting a blog about fighting wedding fever and trusting that my man would make the best decision for us in due time, he had driven to my home town that day to ask for my father's blessing and for his attendance at our surprise wedding that Corey was planning.

That's right, a surprise wedding.

And no, before we get started, we are not with child.

Corey and I often joke about having to make plans to not make plans. With said "combined social calendars" that I referenced in my 'I'm going to chill out about wanting a ring' blog - Corey and I would often co-RSVP one another to various events week in and week out, all to great pleasure and enjoyment, but we stay super busy nonetheless. When a relaxing weekend sounds desirable, it's almost like we have to plan to not make plans to ensure that we both keep the weekend open.

So, that's what Corey did. He made a plan to not make plans.

Or so I thought.

On a walk, June 11th, to be exact, Corey told me we were getting away for the weekend. That after much deliberation over whether or not to put ourselves through the gong show of another Independence Day weekend on the lake with our crazy yet fabulous friends, he had decided we should be low key this year. He told me we'd still be hitting the water, just alone this time, down in Galveston. I told him I was delighted and would happily get away with him on what I began to jokingly refer to as, "the love retreat."

See, what you should know is, Corey and I have both had career-mania these last few months, and we were moving into our fabulous Memorial apartment the weekend before said love retreat. We needed something peaceful and relaxing to look forward to, so amongst the chaos of our daily loves, I held tight to the love retreat as my saving grace.

How was I ever to know I'd attend the retreat as Kaci Coble and come home Kaci Stansell? A girl can only dream, right?

So - to the love retreat. Mind you...Hurricane Alex decided to grace us with his presence all week...so as Corey is planning a surprise proposal and wedding, I'm almost insisting we reschedule due to the weather. Leave it to a girl to ruin her engagement, right?

It didn't take long for Corey to convince me otherwise, and I agree, knowing we'd been looking forward to relaxing too much to let a little rain deter us- we went.

It's funny, really - because there was so many hiccups in the day that all make sense looking back. Let's start at the beginning...

We awoke Saturday morning, July 3rd, to a normal day. The AT&T technician was coming, so we spent the morning organizing the office in preparation for the Internet we'd been left without for the last week. Upon his arrival, Corey "ran to the bank" (mmm hmm) as I putzed around and packed.

Around noon or so, as we were leaving for the beach, Corey made a trip down to his truck to put his luggage and suit in the car. Mind you...he actually asked me my opinion about his suit and tie that morning - which should've been red flag number one!

Anyway, while he's downstairs, I see his wallet on the dresser. I stick it in my purse and head for the door, and as he meets me to grab my bags, I ask him if he needed it, being sarcastic, obviously. He grabs it, grabs my bags, and we head for the car.

Once we hop in, he suddenly decides there's "too much crap" in his backseat and decides to run a few stragglers from the move back to the apartment. Also known as - he needs to grab the rings because I haven't gone away long enough for him to grab them.

He comes back down, volleyball backpack in tow (nothing unusual) and we hit the road.

It is a MONSOON on the way down. I'm talking, windshield wipers on blast, driving 5 mph, 3% visibility, etc. Bad new bears. But, we press on.

Upon arrival, we load up our luggage cart and head to check in, hopeful for a day of sun. As we reach the front desk, Corey reaches for his wallet, which is no where to be found. I then get the, "Babe, do you have my wallet?"look - but no, I don't - I gave it to him when he left it in the apartment, remember?

So here we go, Operation: Find Corey's Wallet. He has valet bring the truck back around so he can search it again, and I proceed to dump out my carry on of a purse in search for the damn thing. As Corey walks in the door, I've decided we should check his volleyball backpack, and just as I'm about elbow deep in the bag...he snatches it away from me. Startled, he asks me to go check the truck one more time, and I walk outside, terribly confused. Red flag number 2! (Little did I know our WEDDING RINGS were about an inch away from my finger tips!!!)

I ask why it's a big deal that we can't check-in with his reservation and offer to just make a new reservation under my name - but he insists that we use his. Again, should be obvious at this point...it's not. I'm telling you, I have convinced myself it wasn't going to happen for months, so I almost purposely avoided seeing the clues!

Anyway, I go back to the truck, and as I walk back inside, empty handed, we're checked in. No ID, no problem. Weird, but I roll with it. Up to the room we go.

We throw on our suits (in our amazing spa floor room...again, nothing fishy yet) and we hit the pool. About 10 minutes into our R&R, the storm clouds roll in. Back inside we go. We end up on a balcony overlooking the pool and seawall, enjoying our margs, relaxing. I keep asking Corey if we can go to the spa (I've already talked to the concierge and called the spa for goodness sake) but he won't acknowledge that I'm asking. Whatever.

He keeps going into the hotel to check the soccer score, lucky him World Cup was on, when little did I know, he's calling my best friend and our complex to get his wallet picked up as she was already on her way down to be the photographer/planner/florist/unknown-maid-of-honor-extraordinaire. Brilliant.

After a few hours, we head back up to get ready for dinner. Corey puts on an absolutely stunning suit, and I my new long, black, Rachel Pally one-shoulder, Grecian-goddess dress that I'm recently obsessed with, and off we go. Is it any coincidence that I was wearing a new dress, old shoes, borrowed earrings and blue undergarments? I'd like to think not ;)

At dinner, the hotel staff is kind of fishy, but I always knew Corey wouldn't propose at dinner, so I really didn't think twice. It was funny - because when we were seated, I gave him the seat he always wants - the corner pocket with the view of the entire place, but he asked me to switch him, now to understand that he didn't want me subsequently facing the entrance of the hotel. Little did he know when we traded seats that I would then be looking out of the window to the back of the hotel...exactly where he told our parents to park!

Anyway, we order our dinner, a bottle of wine, and I'm settled in for a long, relaxing evening. A bit into the meal, Corey excuses himself for the restroom. About 5 minutes later he comes back, after being awkwardly stopped by the hostess who wanted to know if we wanted a "special song" played, coming from the opposite direction of the restrooms I was aware of. I asked where he came from because I needed to go, and he told me he forgot about the closer location and sent me that way. I now know he was sweating bullets because I excused myself at the exact time everyone was set to arrive and he had just made a mad dash to the room to pick up the rings that I had, for the second time, prevented him from grabbing. Bless his heart!

Toward the end of the meal, he told me had a surprise for me. My heart begins to race, all for me to quickly realize that he would never tell me he was about to propose if that's what the surprise was! I ask what - and he reveals that he's made arrangements for the spa to stay open late and that we're having a couples massage at 8:15pm. My response was something to the nature of, "Ohh, yay." Because while I was excited, I was disappointed, though I told myself I wouldn't be! He hurries me to finish my wine as to not keep the spa waiting.

As we're walking down the hallway to the spa, he's reading off the names of the banquet and ballrooms to our right. When then I thought he was being silly, I now know he's was letting our hiding parents know it would soon be safe to follow us to the spa garden.

We hit the spa doors and make our way down the first set of marble stairs. For some odd reason, the spa receptionists doesn't greet us - she just smiles. Corey then tells me, "Actually, I have a surprise for you...we're not going to the spa..." and he leads me a few more steps to the glass french doors overlooking the spa garden.

And right then, my entire life changed.

I look out and see the most intimate expression of our love and relationship right there in front me. The garden is tastefully adorned with white rose petals floating in the meditation pond, outlined in white candles. The water wall turned altar features two of the most breathtaking floral arrangements I've ever seen. Everything was white, crisp and glowing. The sun was setting over the sea, and my life was forever changing with every step I took.

I believe the first words out of my mouth as we walked down the spa garden stairway were, "Corey, I'm going to freak out."

And that's when the sobbing started.

When I tell you that I was bawling hysterically as though someone had died...I'm not exaggerating. I was so shocked, moved, inspired and incredibly consumed with my love for him that I honestly didn't know what to do with myself.

Corey literally had to drag me to the end of the garden because I couldn't seem to put one foot in front of the other. I'll never forget for as long as we live, seeing his face when he turned around, those sweet blue eyes full of tears.

As Corey kneels down to ask me to be his wife, I lost it. I was totally and completely lost in that moment and was crying uncontrollably. I can hardly recall the words that were spoken, I just remember feeling like I couldn't touch him enough of hug him tightly enough to get as close as I needed to be.

Upon my dramatic acceptance of this glorious token of his love and commitment, he rose to his feet to tell me he had another surprise. He told me that not only did he want to marry me, but that he wanted to do it right then. He didn't want our marriage to be about a wedding, he wanted our wedding to be about us -and there was no truer moment of happiness and joy than that of when he officially chose me to be his forever.

I quite obviously enthusiastically and tearfully agreed and said I could care less if I was wearing a paper sack, that my best friend and the man of my wildest dreams was asking for my hand, and that my hand and heart were immediately his, all material things and traditions aside.

The moment I accepted, he turned me around for our final surprise. Our parents, the 4 people that brought us into this world, came walking down the stairs. All moved by our display of commitment, we shared tears, hugs and laughter as the pastor made his way to the front.

All along, my photographer/planner/florist/unknown-maid-of-honor-extraordinaire has been photographing the entire thing. What a blessing, that Kate LeSueur.

Corey asks me again if this is OK with me - and assures me that if I want to wait for a dress and be in our church that he totally understands - and I continue to tell him that the only thing I want in this entire world is him, and that there's not a thing I would want to have or change about that moment. I didn't ask to clear my face of the mascara, I didn't reach for my lip gloss, I reached for his hands and we were married right there at sunset on Saturday, July 3, 2010 in Galveston, Texas at the Spa at the Hotel Galvez.

After our ceremony, we shared cake and champagne with our parents and our dear friend Kate. We then went back to our room to find champagne and chocolate covered strawberries awaiting our arrival. We spent the evening celebrating, walking the beach, hiding out in the lifeguard stand, and talking about everything that had come to pass and how incredibly breathtaking the entire thing was. And just like that, we were Mr. & Mrs.

I don't know the symbolism behind the flower girls and bridesmaids. I don't represent the symbolism behind the white dress and my father giving me away. I don't have a group of childhood friends that I'm dying to have by my side when I married Corey. I don't care about anything but him. We had everything we needed - one another. Our parents were there to witness it, and between my lovely husband and my closest girlfriend, we had flowers, candles, a gorgeous sunset, cake, champagne, pictures and a video - all the things I ever wanted or needed. There is no part of the stress and financial burden of planning a wedding that has ever sounded desirable to Corey and I, and he knew me well enough to know what I truly wanted. Him.

Our focus is and was us. And while we will have a fabulous reception to celebrate with family and close friends, we have what we wanted and needed and it remains sacred and private, which is all we ever would've wanted.

Corey created and captured the most incredible moments of our lives within an intimate ceremony, and I cannot imagine ever having been able to plan anything to even resemble the raw, honest, genuine emotion of that evening. To have a man that cares enough about me to plan a wedding for me...now that's a man I'll walk beside until the day I leave this earth. Luckiest. Girl. Alive.

As far as I'm concerned, Corey and I have been engaged since March of 2009. While our literal engagement lasted all of 2 minutes, I knew the day we began dating that I'd spend the rest of my life with him. I've been crazy about him since my 220lb days at the University of Houston, and never would've imagined in my wildest dreams that I would marry the same Andrew Corey Stansell I was head over heels for at Frontier Fiesta 2007.  It still blows my mind, and I still love him as much as I did the first time we kissed. He's my heart, my soul, my life - and if I lost everything in this world and only had him, I'd have everything I need - and I genuinely mean that.

I'm dying to see the pictures as badly as you are - so we'll all be patient together as the professional works her magic. As soon as I get them, you'll have access to them as well. And, for those of you that will be in attendance at the reception, we will be showing the video of old waterworks over here :)

Again, thank you all for your support, love and blessings. I will quite obviously be taking time away from blogging and consulting as I focus on celebrating my marriage to my best friend. We have a short time to plan a reception before the honeymoon in late September, so as soon as registries, showers and plans are solidified - business will resume as usual.

Until then, please excuse me, I'm off to watch my husband play sand volleyball.

All my thanks and appreciation,
kaci lynn stansell