When Lucas finally walked into the restaurant and took a seat with Julie and Seba it truly felt as though reality had become a dream. As he began to open his faux present, I floated down the stairs on a cloud of surrealness. I vividly remember the second that I tapped him on the shoulder and his eyes immediately welled up with tears at first sight of me. His reaction is something that I will hold onto tightly in my treasure chest of memories forever.
Before he grabbed and kissed me, I said to him:
You did not think I would miss your Birthday did you? I am your present!
Keeping this surprise from his for almost two weeks was one of the greatest challenges of my life. Every time we would talk on Skype and he would say, “I miss you mi amor, ” I would want to respond, “I miss you too, but I will be in your arms in just a few days.” With the support of my girlfriends though, I kept my mouth shut.
No newlyweds should be separated, but we were, and in that moment we had no idea when the United States government would grant Lucas his fiancé visa. Thus, we both put a whole new meaning to the phrase “cherish each moment as if it were your last. ”
Diego gave us a sneak peek of how the video turned out and as you can imagine we were speechless.
Then Duff and Frances announced that they now had a surprise for us and proceeded to hand the four of us sparklers for a fun photo shoot. Unfortunately, since their camera of choice was stolen that morning, they were not certain as to how the photos would turn out.
Our first assignment was for each of us to write a word in the air with a sparkler. We were not allowed to tell each other what the word was; we would eventually find out once the pictures were edited. Although, none of us listened and we ended up telling each other what our words were. Mine was adventure, surprise surprise. Seba’s was paz, or peace. Both Julie and Lucas, being the humble people that they are, choose thank you (Lucas in Spanish and Julie in Japanese).
Then it was time for the word: love. No other word could succinctly express the night better.
The pictures did not come out as clearly as the photographers had hoped, however they were perfect in our eyes.
Our last stop of the night was to a restaurant down the street where we celebrated with too much food and too much wine. Oh, and of course a Birthday cake!
cute pics! We did something similar on our travels but instead of using sparklers (not very handy to travel with), we used flashlights and a long photo exposure to capture the message.
Oooh I would love to see the pics! Do you have a link?
These photos + the story (+the video too) just melt my heart Andi. What a beautiful couple :-))))
Thank you sooo much darling!!! Your words mean the world to me! XOXO
What a wonderful surprise! I love the expression on his face…priceless!
The sparkler images are super cool. I really like the one with you two in the heart. It’s perfect 😀
WW
How great is his face in that 1st pic? Him and I were looking at it last night and laughing. I’m sooo glad that I didn’t give the poor guy a heart attack! I love the sparkler images too, even if they are not in focus. Awesome memories!
Such a sweet surprise, and that dress really IS perfect!! I have been looking for one like it myself for my next birthday, I wonder if they still have it at Banana! 😉
~Heidi
Check online or Ebay, it’s such a fabulous dress — I know you’d LOVE it!!!
Aww! His expression in the first photo says it all. Must’ve been unbelievable! And the sparkler photos turned out really good 😀
It says it all right!?! It really was unbelievable. I had goosebumps for hours!!! He just kept looking at my like I was a ghost.
Andi your are so creative, very nice the surprise to Lucas, jejejj it was very funny the first picture with his surprise face.
A big hug to you :))
Gracias mi amorcita!!! Yes, his face is sooo cute in that 1st pic! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Te mando un abrazo fuerte.
That first picture is PRICELESS! I LOOOOVE IT!
Hahaha I knew of all people you would love it!!! Gotta get it framed! 🙂
You two are simply adorable! 🙂 LOVE the sparkler photos…
Thanks a million!!! I love them tooooooo!
The sparkler photos are so special. What a beautiful memory that whole experience will make.
Thank you so much! There were so many special moments that night. I didn’t want the night to end!!!
This is just too sweet for words. I love the sparkler pictures!
And YOU are too sweet for words!
Like something from a fairy tale…
I love that image, thank you!
I LOVE the sparkler pics! I’m dying to try that out now…
Yes, I want to try it out some more as well! So cool, right?
what a beautiful surprise Andi, the photos really capture such a special moment.
Thanks darling!!! I’m so lucky that I found such awesome people to capture the moment forever both in photos and in film! 🙂
I abasolutley adore the sparkler pics what a fabulous idea and really captures a special moment
I wish mine would have come out! Would have loved to have a pic of me with the word “adventure!” But I’m obsessed with the “love” pic.
Your pictures are just absolutely stunning and very inspiring 🙂 Looking forward to more!
Thank a million and more to come soon I promise! 🙂
I know I already watched the video of this a while ago, but this story and the pictures still give me goosebumps! I am horrendous at keeping surprises (my husband knows this and often gets to open presents early or find out what they are sooner than I want him to). I just get too excited and want to get it over with. I am amazed with how patient you were. It so paid off…what an amazing moment. xo
I was terrible at keeping surprises when I was younger, but I’ve definitely gotten better with age. Trust me, I had thoughts of telling him and then making him pretend that he didn’t know, but every time I was tempted I called a girlfriend and had them talk me out of it. I’m so delighted that you loved the pics and video!
Your love is so obvious in every photo!
I’m so happy that it’s THAT evident!!! 🙂
This is so cute! The sparkler photos are lovely. I so hope you can both be together properly as soon as possible.
Glad you enjoyed! Actually we’ve been together now for over a month!!! No more distance again yay!
Wow, what an amazing story! Beautiful photos, too!
Thank you!!! I’m sad that I’m done blogging about it. I want to keep reliving it. 🙂
Fabulous pics!
Thank you!!!
Writing because I am loving the surprise blog posts. They are so sweet. 🙂 You are adorable. Lucas is adorable. Awww, they make me melt and teary! They are just awesome!
You are adorable for leaving such an adorable comment, thank youuuuuuuu!
Oh… It brings tears to my eyes!! What a happy moment!
Awww hugs!!!
It was very nice of you, Andi! Loving the pics!
I love to hear that, thank you!
Love the photos! What a cool idea and a great surprise!! 😉
Thanks sooo much!!!
Those sparkler pics completely amaze me – I thought it was some kind of trick but I’m guess in really slow shutter speed…? Such an amazing gift – I can’t believe you kept it secret for so long. And SO happy the volcanic ash didn’t foil your plans – I was so stressing for you!!!
How could I forget about the volcanic ash????? Seriously, that took years off of my life! You were such an awesome friend to support me during that time. I definitely want to play with sparklers more in the future.
I love your painting with light pictures, they turned out great! We did the same technique during our engagement shoot, but somehow a security guard’s flashlight with a thick beam doesn’t produce quite the same sparkly effect.
I want to try it again but with the right camera to avoid any blurriness. I loved them regardless though! And I loved your e-pics with Kyle.
I haven’t visited in a while, but I am loving catching up on your surprise and your second wedding. I’m so happy for you guys! And agree, get that first photo in this post framed, it’s priceless!
So happy to have you back, I have missed you! Glad you are loving the posts!!! XOXO
i LOVE this!! such a sweet, loving story. And, great pics!
Yay, so glad you loved the story and the pics! XO
This is the most romantic post ever Andi!
Awww, I’m blushing!!! THANK YOU!
Our heart melted with this love story.
What a lovely comment, thank you!
I loved the video but these stills are great too — especially the first 🙂
Thanks love! I think everyone is in agreement that the 1st shot is the winning shot!!!
I am obsessed with your dress!!! IT is SO fun and gorgeous! I definitely need something like that to add to my collection!
The sparklers photo shoot is to die for! How stunning! I have never seen that before! Definitely very special! Your blog is great! I love following your travels!
Isn’t my dress fabulous??? I can’t believe how lucky I was in finding it! I love it, because it’s a dress that I can wear over and over and never get tired of it. And yeah, the sparkler shoot was quite unique and A LOT of fun. Thanks a million for your awesome comment. 🙂
Awesome experience shared in the post; Glad to read this post. Really touchy one. Thanks Andi for this share i like your blog and follow it in the future for sure. The experience you faced was a life time experience for you.
I always love hearing from new readers! I’m touched that you were touched by my blog!!! And I’m delighted that you’ll be coming back for more. 🙂
That’s absolutely amazing! That photo of Lucas is priceless — such bald joy! I loooove the sparkler pictures. Sad about the camera. 🙁
I love that phrase “bald joy!” That’s the PERFECT way of explaining it!!! Yes, it’s such a tragedy about the camera. Bad things shouldn’t happen to good people, boo!
I smiled and smiled and smiled through this post, hun. You two are amazing. I feel like I’m reading a fairytale when I read about you two.
And I feel like I live inside of a fairytale, I really do! I’m truly blessed. 🙂