What Really Happened When I Proposed To My Girlfriend

As soon as my girlfriend Laura and I started talking about marriage, I knew I wanted to be the one to propose; I’m slightly older and way soppier.  I had all these amazing ideas I had seen that I thought I could use in my proposal, and I wanted to create the ‘oh wow’ moment for the most amazing person I know – she deserved it.

We booked a trip to see Laura’s parents in America for Christmas and I came up with the idea to propose on 20.12.2012.  I like things to be even and this way there was no way we’d forget the date!  The challenge was to organise the proposal without Laura suspecting, so I involved Alison, one of Laura’s friends I’d met in Boise and she agreed to help with logistics.

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It took a lot of Google mapping and looking through previous trip photos to the area to find the perfect location where I wanted to propose.  Organising how I wanted the location to look took preparation and I had seen a picture on Tumblr where someone had hung hearts on a bench set.  I took the idea and thankfully found the perfect strings of hearts then I took it a step further by writing something I loved about Laura on each of the 30+ hearts.  Laura nearly walked in on me preparing so many times in our home in London – living together gave me very little chance to get creative!  At numerous points I would be hiding hearts in my bra or under my pillow!

No one tells you that the worst part about proposing is the lies!  Not hurtful lies, but lying by omission.  Laura accused me of hiding something on more than one occasion and, as we had agreed on no Christmas presents that year, it was hard to think of excuses for shifty behaviour. Then there was the packing. We always pack for trips together! I had to get up in the middle of the night to hide my props in the case and, as well as the hearts, I also had a canvas with photos from our 4 years together spelling ‘LOVE’ with ‘Will you marry me?’ written in the photos.

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Thankfully, the ring was the easy part. We had ordered engagement rings to check out when we were at Laura’s parents.  Laura had picked only one, I, on the other hand, had ordered 3 (indecisive!), so as soon as we got to the States and she had tried it on, I hid it from her.

I then had to get Laura’s family’s permission.  This didn’t go to plan at all, I ended up asking when stood in my pyjamas carrying washing as it was the only time Laura wasn’t in hearing distance! In these situations you really do realise how much time you spend together.

While she was in the shower, I left Laura a card telling her to come and meet me at the chosen spot; I headed up with Alison, who had picked up a bunch of roses as asked.  I had loaded a playlist and packed a blanket, Diet Coke (of course), the ring, the sign and the hearts.  Alison and I had less than 20 minutes to put it all together.  In this case it was well worth involving someone else!  The best thing was, Alison then videoed the whole thing from the bushes once we’d set up!

As Laura drove up, my heart was racing; I was so worried this wouldn’t be what she dreamed of.  The wind was stronger than expected so the hearts were fluttering and it was freezing.  I dropped to one knee almost immediately and to this day, neither of us really remembers what was said.  There were a LOT of tears, the phrase ‘Will you marry me?’ was definitely in there, but I think the knee drop was probably the clearest indication as to what was happening.  I knew planning a big speech was a waste of time, there was no way I could hold it together.  I just wanted her to know I loved her more than anything.
I arranged for Laura’s parents to come and join us half an hour after Laura left, so as they arrived, I was showing Laura the hearts. They welcomed me to the family and the rest, as they say, is history!

It was way more emotional than I had thought it’d be.  I can’t imagine us on the wedding day.  The hiding things was horrible and the planning took longer than expected, but I am so glad I got a YES and I’m so glad I waited until we were in Laura’s home town – it made it extra special.  The nice thing about being able to propose was that I put what I would have wanted into my proposal.  I knew Laura didn’t need the soppiness, but I did.  I needed a way to communicate how I felt when tears overwhelmed the words.
Being engaged has definitely brought us closer, it’s definitely given us a sense of calm and we can just relax and enjoy being together.  It’s also given us a challenge to focus on – THE WEDDING! 2.5 months and counting!

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Article was written by Sarah. Sarah is one half of the femme couple bloggers Sarah + Laura – she loves nothing more than her lady love, an ice cold can of Diet Coke, and frequent trips to Nandos. Her days are spent working as a Unicorn, and her nights are spent traveling between London, Reading and their new home town of Birmingham!