It has been quite the eventful summer! Every summer, since I was very young, we go to my grandma’s lake house in Idaho. I have so many special memories there and look forward to going all year. 

This year, we decided to go for the week of July 4th, which we have never done before. We usually love staying home, as our hometown of Newport Beach always puts on quite a show and if you’re a local you know how crazy and fun the Balboa Peninsula can be on that day. I guess I’m getting older, because spending time with my family in Spirit Lake sounded more fun. I flew up to Idaho with my sister, Ashlyn, and my boyfriend, Pat. It was his first time there and I was really excited for to be there with him.  And we were all excited to see our dog, Finley!  She goes up to Idaho with my mom for the summer and we hadn't seen her in several weeks.

The evening of the Fourth, Pat and I were on the dock waiting for my family to go on a boat cruise to a little lakeside restaurant. Pat is very outdoorsy (me, not so much) and while we were waiting, he was giving me a fishing lesson. He needed to grab something out of the tackle box and when I turned around, he was down on one knee!! I was being proposed to in my favorite place, with it just being the two of us. (Except for my mom and sister watching from the deck of the house way above us). I couldn’t have planned a more perfect proposal, if I had done it myself.  I am now a fiancée!

The week was full of relaxing days on the lake, BBQ's, s'mores and family time.  After a week on the lake, Pat and I left for Alaska for another vacation and celebration with his sweet family.

After two weeks of travel and family, we are now back home and have begun the wedding planning process.  We have talked about our wedding and where we would want to have it many times, but we could never decide on a specific location. I thought once we were engaged the perfect place would just come to us but... we still have no idea! 

What we do know is that we want something coastal or at least near the water somewhere. The desire of wanting a special place where family and friends can be together and also that isn’t too inconvenient or expensive for everyone is a bit of a struggle. We've thought about a wedding in Hawaii, Mexico, Lake Tahoe, even Italy (my dream location - but definitely not practical) and of course Newport Beach. We are open to suggestions on venues or locations.    We would really love to hear any ideas you have!  I will keep you updated as we find the perfect venue for our wedding. Please feel free to leave a comment below or send us a message on instagram @hadleyjameshome :)