HOORAY – WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!: The Engagement Post

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I’ve been living in a fairytale land for the last fortnight. As the capitalised title suggests, I’m a wee bit excited to announce, we’re getting married. I’m certainly not one for public displays of affection and tend to avoid soppy posts, but I’ll warn you now, this blog post is an exception.

In 2015, my boyfriend of 6 months moved in, 1 year later he’s down on one knee asking me to marry him, and in 2 years’ time we’ll be tying the knot in front of our friends and family in Cornwall. Someone, please tell me, how did I get so lucky to hold onto such a catch? I’ll save you the mushy reasons why I’m so ridiculously happy in our relationship and jump straight to the part when we got engaged two weeks ago…

One month before my birthday we were scanning the internet to figure out what to do on the weekend I turn 26. Initially, we were going to head back to Snowdonia because I absolutely loved our trip there last year, however, after a bit of searching, we decided to go somewhere different. I’d always wanted to go to the Alps, so what better time than my birthday?! Flights were surprisingly cheap, considering it was ski season, and we found ourselves a lovely little log cabin with a wood burner in a forest at the base of the mountain range in Chamonix Mount Blanc. We headed out for a week because we knew there for plenty to see and do there, and hey – why not!? We’ve been working so hard recently, we deserve it.

Birthday treats started from the airport duty-free shops on February 28th- EEK! S ensured I had plenty of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, anything I wanted in the airport and plenty of tea to keep me awake. We flew out from Bristol airport, which meant the journey wasn’t anywhere near as bad as what we usually have to endure. We arrived at Geneva airport in Switzerland in the late afternoon and then jumped on a bus that took us across the border up into the French Alps. The traffic was pretty horrendous, so we arrived relatively late so after we dropped our backpacks at the log cabin, we decided to pop across the road for dinner instead of going into Chamonix centre. Little did we know, it was a Michelin Star restaurant, so we had a 6 course meal and drank wine until the staff looked like they were about to throw us out!

The first day we explored Chamonix and played in the snow because there was a blizzard the night before. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll write a few separate posts about the holiday in general because there was so much to do there (our new favourite place!), I could never squeeze everything into one single post. One thing was for sure during our trip, we knew during our time in the Alps we wanted to go to the summit of Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m / 12,605 ft) in the Mont Blanc massif. If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know that S and I like to go out into the mountains, camping and hiking, whatever the weather! This holiday was about fun and indulgence though, and we didn’t want to come back sore – so luckily there was a cable car to take us to the top.

The cable car ride between Chamonix and Aiguille du Midi is in two stages. The first leg brings visitors to the Plan de l’Aiguille (2,317m). The second stage, without any support pillar, traverses Les Pelerins glacier before rising up the North Face of the Aiguille du Midi at the top station (3778m). A footbridge connects the cable car top station with the Central Piton terrace. An elevator inside the rock rises the final 42m to the top terrace at an altitude of 3,842m. This is the closest you can get to the summit of Mont-Blanc without hiking or climbing.

Absolutely terrified the entire journey up, S couldn’t stand still as I made our journey through the clouds. I’ve never seen him so fidgety, little did I know why.. We finally made it to the summit of the mountain, the clouds disappeared and the sun was shining bright – WOW!! In awe of the spectacular views of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps, we decided to get a snap of us with the giant mountains in the background. My other half is a photographer and I knew it was really important to him to get a good picture. He set up the shot and handed his DSLR to another photographer that was also taking pictures nearby.

Just as we’re having our photograph taken I feel S pull away from me. As I turn to him I see he’s down on one knee holding open a box that’s sparkling. OH MY GOD!! WHAT ON EARTH IS HE DOING!? Neither of us says anything and I just cover my face and begin crying, which is when he asks “Will you marry me?”. Stupidly, at the time I didn’t even say yes, I just repeated “Thank you!” through my tears. The photographer inched forward as I hugged S, and he placed the ring on my finger. We’re so lucky that somebody was there to capture such a special moment.

Crying at high altitude in the thin air and -19 degrees windchill is pretty intense, so after a few more tears, we moved inside. We ordered a bottle of champagne and macaroons at one of the highest restaurants in the world and laughed about how emotional it was. We giggled about how both of us thought we’d handle it a lot better than we did – instead of both being a blubbering mess. We had been ring shopping, and I knew that S had bought me a ring in the past (but it wasn’t good enough, so I hear!), so I had an inkling it was going to happen. That said, he was so good at throwing me off the scent, so I was still absolutely blown away when it happened. Good work S!

We couldn’t wait to tell our friends and family (especially as my parents were eagerly waiting to hear if I had said yes, as S had asked permission before we left). Once everybody knew the fantastic news, we headed to a bar to watch a live band and celebrate being engaged. In the morning I woke up on my 26th birthday (3rd March), opening presents and cards in bed addressed “to my darling fiancé” and “my daughter-in-law to be”. We headed for lunch in Mer de Glace overlooking the largest French glacier to continue celebrations before heading back to England that night.

Perfectly planned, the celebrations didn’t end when we got back to the UK. When we arrive back to Cornwall (about 2 am!), we caught a few Z’s before my parents came over with gifts then we headed to The Cove in Maenporth for lunch. We sank a lot of bubbles, but I still managed to squeeze some more in when my friends came over in the evening to celebrate into the night.

Feeling slightly fragile the following day, 10 of my nearest and dearest headed to a spa day at Merchants Manor. I had an extra-long massage, so much food and even more bubbles. We figured that was back to reality for us, but in a matter of fact, it’s been going on for about two weeks now!! Our feet are finally touching the ground, as we’ve seen everybody, told our story and flashed off the gorgeous ring. We’re so blessed to have so many people around us that care for us and want to celebrate this exciting time in our life with us.

We don’t mess around, and we’ve already booked our ceremony and reception for a spring wedding at Scorrier House, a private stately home set in beautiful flower-filled gardens surrounded by 450 acres of woods and parkland. So you can expect to see a lot more wedding based posts coming from us… Oh, and don’t forget the honeymoon – we’re planning something once in a lifetime!