KAREN + ALFONSO

photo | Theo-Graphics

KAREN + ALFONSO

Chose her wedding ring Sweet Home Alabama style

Alfonso and I met nearly seven years ago at work and became friends, but it wasn’t until three years ago that we started dating. Through all the years of our friendship, he knew that at the top of my bucket list was a trip to Europe. Just over a year into our relationship, we begin planning that trip. We celebrated our second anniversary with a whirlwind trip across Europe – Paris, Florence, Rome, Prague, and Munich. I was secretly hoping that a proposal would happen on the trip as we’d bought our home two months prior and had plenty of talks about our future together, but by the time we were at our last destination, Munich, there was no sign of a ring! When we arrived in Munich, we checked into our hotel – Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski Munich –which is located in the heart of Munich on the Maximilianstrasse, the City’s top shopping street. We decided to spend the evening doing relaxed window shopping since the next day was fully booked with a bike tour across the city. Little did I know, Tiffany & Co. was located at the end of the Maximilianstrasse. Our running joke is that we have an annual Tiffany budget as that’s Alfonso’s go-to for birthday and Christmas gifts. We decided to pop into Tiffany, but little did I know that Alfonso had a plan. We made our way into the store, browsed the lower level, and Alfonso suggested we see what was on the second floor. Spoiler alert – that’s where the engagement and wedding rings are. When we reached the top floor, Alfonso took me by surprise when he told me that he loved me and wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together, and he told me to pick out the ring that I wanted. Obviously, I did NOT believe him! But yes, he was serious, and we picked out the ring that I would get to wear for the rest of my life! To make it even more perfect, the Tiffany sales associate had just received a Tiffany Blue Polaroid camera, and he took our photo to capture the moment. So, we came home with a sweet, simple memory of that moment – a faded Polaroid photo of the moment we said, “we will.” It was the best ending to the best trip of our lives, and we are so excited to be getting married this May in Houston!