I'm Engaged!
The day started off with M dragging me out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5.30am in the morning and telling me that we have to leave the house at 6am for my birthday surprise. It was only after half an hour of driving before he finally told me that for my birthday present, he had arranged for me to skydive by the beach at Wollongong. I was really excited as I've always wanted to try skydiving, although that pretty much only gave me an hour to prepare for it since we were already halfway to Wollongong.
When we arrived, I got all harnessed up, boarded the tiny plane and before I knew it, I've already jumped off the plane. It was a huge adrenaline rush and an amazing experience with absolutely stunning scenery to boot (most skydiving places do it inland). While parachuting back down, the skydiving instructor suddenly asked me what's that right underneath us. I looked and that's when I saw it. A huge black sign with 3 pink words, "MARRY ME ERICA" on it. I totally didn't expect it and was shocked beyond words. I started tearing and before I knew it, we were landing and I saw M standing by the sign wearing a suit, with rose petals scattered on the ground. I then walked over towards him and that's when he got down on his knees and popped the question. I said yes to applause all around and only after that did I realise that he got a few of his good friend to come along to help out (he only had about 30 mins to get everything in place) and to film the whole thing. One of his friend, Shannon, even arranged for a guy from the local newspaper to come down and take photos so we're going to be in the papers tomorrow. After that, we proceeded to a pavilion by the beach where he had arranged for roses, champagne and breakfast.
M's little helpers, Shannon & Paul
M standing by the giant sign
M hyperventilating moments before I landed
Me tearing while M popped the question
Newly engaged!
Banner, 4 dozen roses, champagne and breakfast organised by Shannon
Popping the champagne
By the beach
My ring. Not your typical engagement ring but it's very me and I love it! (Pardon my dry hand, I need to moisturise)
We then drove home and I thought that was it but no. When we got home, he told me that a taxi would be picking us up in half an hour and that I should quickly shower, change into something nice and pack an overnight bag. I had no idea where he was taking me next. It was only when we pulled up in front of a restaurant in the city that I realised he had lunch reservation at Tetsuya's. Tetsuya's has been consistently ranked one of the top restaurants in the world and it takes at least 3-4 months to get a reservation. I finally found out what all the hype is about, the food is that good!
M stuffed after a 12 course degustation lunch at Tetsuta's
After a 3 hours lunch, we hopped into another cab which took us to Rose Bay where M had arranged for a seaplane to fly us to Palm Beach. On arrival, we were picked up by a van which took us to our final stop for the day, Jonah's, where we were to have dinner and stay overnight at the penthouse suite. Jonah's was right on the cliff and our room had one of the best view I've ever seen for a hotel room, as well as a beautiful bathroom with a huge shower (extremely spacious even for 2 people!) and a lovely spa bath. Definitely a fantastic choice for a weekend away.
About to board the seaplane
On the seaplane
The stunning view from our room's terrace
Dinner at Jonah's
Breakfast at Jonah's
One last photo before checking out
So that was it. An absolutely amazing and romantic day that took M 5 months to plan. 2 weekends alone (and $500 worth of paint!) was spent painting the sign, and the whole time I thought he was helping his friend paint a cubby house for his son. He also designed the ring and picked out the diamond himself, working with one of Sydney's top jewellers. He even recruited my sister to help him, to make sure that I have absolutely no idea what was going to happen and that it would be a total surprise. I feel incredibly touched that he went to all this effort just for a proposal. Anyway don't ask me when the wedding will be happening. Right now it still feels a little surreal that we're actually engaged and we're just letting everything sink in.
For Merrill's story on planning the proposal, head over to his blog.