Two years ago, I went on a trip to Hawaii with my boyfriend and so many people thought he would pop the question during our travels that I wrote a post posing the question, "Can't you just go on vacation without everyone assuming you'll get engaged?" Well, joke's on me because last week that same boyfriend and I went back to Hawaii and...drumroll...we're engaged!
On Save the Date, we love sharing proposal stories—and, well, I just love telling it 'cause I'm feeling so lovey-dovey—so here's what happened...
First, some background: We were traveling back to New York on Valentine's Day, so Bill told me he was planning a date for us while we were still in Hawaii. Made sense to me—and it was a perfect cover for him to plan a special event without my catching on that it'd be the date. The plan, as far as I knew, was to leave early to walk around the cute surfer town of Paia, Maui, then eat lunch at our favorite spot, Mama's Fish House.
But on our way, Bill turned left at an intersection when I knew he was supposed to turn right. When we're driving, I'm usually the navigator, so I called him out on it—but he said he knew of a scenic beach where we could go see some whales and can I just go along with it, OK? When we got to the spot, Bill and I walked around for a bit and enjoyed the beautiful scenery—including a rainbow in the background. But it was rainy, so after a bit I was ready to head out, but Bill kept stalling. (Later, I found out it was because there was a hairy, shirtless tourist who was wandering around near us and wouldn't leave, so Bill kept trying to wait for a private moment to pop the question. I'm glad he did!)
When we were finally alone on the beach, Bill got down on one knee and proposed. I started laughing (from joy, natch), gave him a kiss, and said, "Yes! Of course!"
The ring was exactly my type. In fact, I had picked it in a roundabout way: Bill had snuck onto my computer one day while I was out and looked at my secret wedding Pinterest board. (I don't know why I think this is so clever of him, but I don't think I would have thought to do that! That Pinterest board was meant for my eyes only.) His favorite one was luckily in his budget, and that's how I got this sparkly lovely:
After lots of hugs and "I can't believe this!" moments, we called our families with the good news and headed to Mama's for the best meal—for so many reasons—I've ever had. The restaurant even had a sign waiting for us at our table:
After lunch, the surprises continued: Bill had booked a romantic overnight stay at an oceanfront resort so we could keep the celebration going at its gorgeous pool and beach, and he told me he had already gotten a subscription to Brides, which would be waiting for me when I got back to New York. Keeper!
Later, Bill confessed that he was stressed on the day of the proposal because it was raining and he wanted everything to be perfect—but I said he could have proposed in a garbage dump and I still would have said yes. After three years together, he's my best friend, and I'm just happy I found my person.
So, that's our story. Thanks for letting me share! But now there's so much planning ahead—any advice?!