Some of our friends have now received these love notes we sent from Bali. We wanted to wait for a few to be surprised but it’s time to bring everyone in on it.

The note we sent from Bali reads:

Elena’s story:

Jon proposed in the middle of our 3 weeks in Bali, the very end of our 4 months of travel together. It was intimate, romantic and perfectly us.

We wanted to send out hand written, hand made paper announcements from Bali, like we had seen in India or Thailand. Almost 10 days into searching for what we needed and wanted, it turns out that hand calligraphed announcements and invites aren’t at all common or even done on the island.

So we decided to go with what was typically used, which is what you see here. We sent out quite a few announcements, hoping all would make it to their destinations. We’re still crossing our fingers as there are many unaccounted for as of yet.

But here it is, our announcement and our joy!

Oh and there has been question about the ring! Having schemed to get me to the jewelry expo in Bangkok to buy a ring there, Jon was a bit surprised to find that the ring he thought I wanted wasn’t that ring at all, and in the end, unbeknownst to me, couldn’t buy the ring there.

Instead, and this is Elena writing now, what he got me was so spot on I’m still swooning over it.

A month and a half prior, on our first trip to Bali, we had been to a shop that sold old statues and ceremonial Balinese pieces of jewelry, sculptures etc. I had fallen in love with something that was way out of our casual shopping range, and though it was heartbreaking to walk away from, it made sense to.

On our second trip back to Bali, it was this that he spent an afternoon sneaking off to get and then surprise me with that night when he proposed. It’s gorgeous, will eventually get hung on our bedroom wall, and I’m strongly considering wearing it for our wedding. Gorgeous.

Jon’s Story:

As Elena alluded to above… I’d had plans to propose for a while. In fact I had only told Elena about the Bangkok Gem and Jewelry show because it was part of my sly plan. That original plan had us being engaged before we attended the gem fair, and us buying a ring there together.  I just told her about it ahead of time because I needed it on our travel schedule and I needed her to be the one that wanted to have it on the schedule so she had no idea it was me that wanted to go. That was an easy deception really.

Unfortunately, as seems to often be the case, the bride to be unknowingly thwarted my first two attempts. First on New Year’s when she and I were both still getting over being sick and she didn’t want to go out.  So much for the New Year’s eve khom loi lantern proposal plan…  I did finally drag her out that night to float a lantern, but it was so forced and so rushed I’d decided to try again another time.   The second attempt was on our first great road trip of Bali.  The plan had been to find somewhere beautiful in Ahmed, a beach and dive resort at the far north eastern end of Bali.  Literally a few minutes before we’d reached the turnaround point on our trip and the place I’d planned to propose… she lost her iPhone!  The resulting 36 hours is an amazing story you have to hear which I will not detail here other than that it didn’t include a proposal.

Regardless, it all worked out for the best though as it always does!

When and Where?

The few that have gotten their letters have already asked “when and where?”. For now all we’re saying is somewhere between Italy and Bali and sometime in the next year or two. More to come.