Was I surprised?
I was SO surprised. I thought he was going to wait until after our travels next year! He said there were 3 reasons he proposed now instead of waiting. First, he didn't want to keep a secret from me. (The secret being that he was ready and was 100% sure...he wanted to make it official!). Second, it makes finances for our trip much easier...instead of having a per person budget, we have a combined budget. Lastly, he wants us to be able to look forward to the wedding, and be able to openly plan, talk about ideas and be full of anticipation during the trip. Good decision!!
I'm in Boston now for my cousin's wedding (Terry didn't make this trip as he's going home in Sept and is coming home with me for xmas), but I'm having fun being able to celebrate with family. So I'll be Emily McDonnell! The wedding won't be until 2014 after we're back from our travels in 2013.
Here's an email T sent around about it:
Emily and I are engaged! J
A little backstory - Emily and I went to Paris to celebrate my birthday, but I had some other plans too.
We arrived in Paris on Thursday morning. I had the ring burning a hole in my pocket the whole trip, though I thought it was probably safer there (with a lower chance of discovery) than anywhere in our suitcases. We arrived at our hotel, one of the 5-star places downtown. I made Emily go find directions to our “next hotel,” since she thought we were staying at a cheap AirBnB place outside of the city after the first night, and I needed time to check in without her overhearing anything. We arrived quite early, and the room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to go on a walk. We had a quick bite to eat, then strolled down the Champs Elysées from the Arc d’Triomphe to the Louvre. As we arrived outside the Louvre we saw that there was a small fair set up outside, including a large Ferris wheel!
This prompted me with a big game-time decision. I had picked out a spot under the Pont Neuf bridge, but this was a new opportunity. And I still had the ring in my pocket! The Ferris wheel would certainly be logistically easier, since we'd be going to Pont Neuf on the pretense of meeting my mom for dinner, so I'd have to come up with a good reason for us to go exactly where I wanted. I also still had to arrange with the concierge for transport from the proposal location to dinner, which was close to our hotel. However, the biggest factor was that the cabin on the Ferris wheel would be private – and I had no guarantee that the original place would be "right" at any given moment. All it would take is one drunk homeless guy to make it a completely forgettable experience. So I called an audible and went with the Ferris wheel.
We got on, and I decided to wait until we got to the top. The wheel stopped at the 90-degree point for f*cking forever (it might have been fifteen seconds or two minutes, I have no idea, but it felt like a lifetime). When we got up to the top I got down on one knee and popped the question. Emily was completely surprised – in a good way. Neither of us remember that much else about the rest of the ride. We’ll have to go back some time and actually see the sights.
We then returned to the hotel, where some champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries were waiting. We took a nap, then got ready for dinner. Our reservation was for an 8-course meal at one of the best restaurants in Paris, which we made full use of over 4+ hours.
Someone we talked to (I forget who) mentioned that an engagement is just the start of something new and amazing. Considering that we had the rest of the week in Paris to see the Louvre, Versailles, Notre Dame, Montmartre, etc. (and stay in our nice hotel), we certainly had a good start. J
I was SO surprised. I thought he was going to wait until after our travels next year! He said there were 3 reasons he proposed now instead of waiting. First, he didn't want to keep a secret from me. (The secret being that he was ready and was 100% sure...he wanted to make it official!). Second, it makes finances for our trip much easier...instead of having a per person budget, we have a combined budget. Lastly, he wants us to be able to look forward to the wedding, and be able to openly plan, talk about ideas and be full of anticipation during the trip. Good decision!!
I'm in Boston now for my cousin's wedding (Terry didn't make this trip as he's going home in Sept and is coming home with me for xmas), but I'm having fun being able to celebrate with family. So I'll be Emily McDonnell! The wedding won't be until 2014 after we're back from our travels in 2013.
Here's an email T sent around about it:
Emily and I are engaged! J
A little backstory - Emily and I went to Paris to celebrate my birthday, but I had some other plans too.
We arrived in Paris on Thursday morning. I had the ring burning a hole in my pocket the whole trip, though I thought it was probably safer there (with a lower chance of discovery) than anywhere in our suitcases. We arrived at our hotel, one of the 5-star places downtown. I made Emily go find directions to our “next hotel,” since she thought we were staying at a cheap AirBnB place outside of the city after the first night, and I needed time to check in without her overhearing anything. We arrived quite early, and the room wasn’t ready yet, so we decided to go on a walk. We had a quick bite to eat, then strolled down the Champs Elysées from the Arc d’Triomphe to the Louvre. As we arrived outside the Louvre we saw that there was a small fair set up outside, including a large Ferris wheel!
This prompted me with a big game-time decision. I had picked out a spot under the Pont Neuf bridge, but this was a new opportunity. And I still had the ring in my pocket! The Ferris wheel would certainly be logistically easier, since we'd be going to Pont Neuf on the pretense of meeting my mom for dinner, so I'd have to come up with a good reason for us to go exactly where I wanted. I also still had to arrange with the concierge for transport from the proposal location to dinner, which was close to our hotel. However, the biggest factor was that the cabin on the Ferris wheel would be private – and I had no guarantee that the original place would be "right" at any given moment. All it would take is one drunk homeless guy to make it a completely forgettable experience. So I called an audible and went with the Ferris wheel.
We got on, and I decided to wait until we got to the top. The wheel stopped at the 90-degree point for f*cking forever (it might have been fifteen seconds or two minutes, I have no idea, but it felt like a lifetime). When we got up to the top I got down on one knee and popped the question. Emily was completely surprised – in a good way. Neither of us remember that much else about the rest of the ride. We’ll have to go back some time and actually see the sights.
We then returned to the hotel, where some champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries were waiting. We took a nap, then got ready for dinner. Our reservation was for an 8-course meal at one of the best restaurants in Paris, which we made full use of over 4+ hours.
Someone we talked to (I forget who) mentioned that an engagement is just the start of something new and amazing. Considering that we had the rest of the week in Paris to see the Louvre, Versailles, Notre Dame, Montmartre, etc. (and stay in our nice hotel), we certainly had a good start. J
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