A friend of mine is currently planning her wedding and as we look through wedding magazines and Pinterest boards together a lot of memories have flooded back from when I was planning my own wedding. One thing that I still love reading about on wedding blogs and magazines are people’s proposal stories, so today I thought I would share mine.
January 2012.
Rob and I had been together for nearly a year, the anniversary of our first kiss was coming up on the 16th January, which was a Monday evening – not the best of nights for celebrating.
It was forecast to be a cold and clear night, and because we didn’t have much money we decided to celebrate by doing a little stargazing. We decided that we would drive to the base of Pendle Hill where there wouldn’t be much light pollution. Rob had a Chinese lantern left over from our New Years Eve celebrations so he was going to bring that and we could set it off to mark the occasion.
Monday 16th January came round and it was a freezing day that was threatening to snow. I began to lose heart with the idea and was soon imagining our car getting stuck on the country roads. I mentioned to my mum that maybe we should change our plans but she convinced me not to change our plans.
Rob came to pick me up that evening and we set off, heavily wrapped up against the cold. We drove to Pendle and then walked a little bit on to the lower bank of the hill. The stars were out in force. It was beautiful.
Rob set up the Chinese lantern and we stood holding it on opposite sides waiting for it to fill. Once it was upright Rob said, “There is something written here!”
“Really? Let me see!” I said,
He turned the lantern round and written on it in black marker pen were the words: CATHY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?
So happy that I didn’t quite dare to believe it, I turned to Rob and said, “Is this for real?” He was grinning from ear to ear and assured me that it was indeed for real. I said yes pretty quickly after that.
We let the Chinese lantern go and watched it float away. Then he got down on one ring and produced a ring. He later told me that he bought it from the antique jewellery shop in Skipton that I love. Every time I go to Skipton I have to go and look in the shop window but I had never bought anything from there. The ring was made in the 1940s and is a mixture of white and yellow gold, with diamonds.
I was too excited to stay and gaze at the stars after that so we returned home so that I could tell my Mum and Dad (who had known all along, Rob had asked for their blessing beforehand). The rest of the evening was a blur of happiness, phone calls and speculative wedding planning. We did get on with the planning in the next few days and less than a week later we had a date and a venue booked.
There is much I love about the detail in how Rob decided to propose. Outside because we love the countryside around here. Romantic, under the stars. With our parents blessing, as they are so important to us. Rob’s proposal was thoughtful, creative and sincere, as is Rob himself. That’s why it was so very easy to say YES!
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