Jacob and I had some incredible travel plans for the year;
Covid, however, was not going to let us have our way. It was safest to stay
home, quarantined, and unfortunately, indefinitely postpone our travel
adventures for 2020.
When the boarders briefly opened up in Australia, we managed
to get ourselves on a plane and straight back into doing what we love the most –
finally a getaway!
I didn't know this at the time, but it turns out Jacob had been a busy bee for the few previous days of our getaway, planning this big surprise and somehow managed to make travel arrangements for both our parents and one of his best friends, Julian from Julian Rinaldi Photography.
The day of the proposal
Jacob had been making strange requests all of Friday, our last
day of our holiday. In the morning, after breakfast, he asked me to wait by the
pool and not to sit in the cabana until the staff had prepared it for us. This
was his strategy to get our parents and Julian through the front doors, checked
and settled into the hotel without me noticing.
While we relaxed in the cabana, our parents went off to
explore Magnetic Island while Julian got to work behind his lens. His subject, Jacob and I.
When it was all clear, we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool a little longer. A few cocktails later, and we decided to go up to our
room and get ready for our evening plans; a picnic which was disguised as an "inclusion of our hotel stay".
Moments before the proposal
Just before sunset, we made our way down to the picnic site on the grounds of the resort, It was an oddly windy summers evening. Luxury Bespoke Picnics had managed a
beautiful setup; a basket full of goodies, pillows, flowers. A low table stood on one end of
the blanket, it held candles, wine and wine glasses and more flowers. Dreamy fairy
lights were hanging off of two bamboo beams and, all overlooking the Coral Sea.
It couldn’t be more perfect.
Jacob and I sat on the blanket, poured ourselves some wine
while music played along in the background. He took my hand and began to tell
how much he loved me. He told me that I was the most important person in his
life and that he could not imagine life without me in it.
He got me to stand and distracted me while he took the ring
out of (down) his pants. As I turned to face him, he began to get down on one
knee. Suddenly, the world around us faded into complete silence. In that moment, there was
just he and I and the loud thumping of my heart. It felt like time stood still.
After a few breaths, I said “yes!” He got off his knee and placed the most
beautiful ring on my finger. We were officially engaged.
It took a while for the world around us to come to life
again. When it seemed like it had, Jacob asked me to look over to my right, and
there I saw our parents, and Julian, behind his long lenses smiling, capturing
it all on camera. I couldn’t believe it!
Our parents came running towards us,
arms open, happiness written all over their faces and embraced us. Love most definitely
filled the air, and together we all soaked up in the joy of our engagement.
We called the rest of our family and closest friends to share our
magical news with them, and we were completely overwhelmed with the amount of love
we received from everyone who knows us. To end our perfect evening, we had
dinner on the rooftop with our parents at Miss Songs, with champagne and love
stories flowing throughout the night.
Now, I'm off to plan a wedding...
With love, mars