Real Bride Diary: The Proposal

I have been an event planner for 12 years and in that time I have had the pleasure of repeat business from many clients. Wedding clients have turned into party clients, and vice versa.  I tend to get very close to my clients and their families so coming back to plan future events is such a joy and pleasure. I was therefore delighted to hear the sister (Nicky) of one of my fabulous brides (Claire) was engaged and wanted me on board to plan another “Wacey Wedding”. In fact they checked my availability before meeting the vicar! I cannot stress how much I adore, yes totally and utterly adore this family. I loved working with Claire and I feel so privileged to be working with Nicky for her wedding next September. (See below for a picture of Nicky sitting next to her sister on her wedding day.)

Nicky has an infectious personality and I know we will have a lot of fun planning her wedding to Tom next year. Nicky loves writing and is keeping a brides diary on her sisters blog, I subsequently stamped my feet and said “write for me too“. Therefore please find below her proposal story – as a fellow list maker this went straight to my heart…..

The Proposal

Firstly I should clarify that it wasn’t how he had intended to ask me, no siree.  I, unwittingly, put the kibosh to that.  The old romantic, wanted to walk me across Waterloo Bridge, my favourite place in London, pause for us to share a ‘romantic moment’, then pop the question. Romantic moment apparently translates to a cheeky grope and a quick snog, but who am I to complain. The back drop would have been breathtaking, the moment perfect…

Unfortunately, I had other ideas.  The excuses, apparently, went like this… “My heels are too high to walk that far”, “Uber is really cheap at this time of night”, “I’m tired” …and so on.  How was I to know he had the ring burning a whole in his pocket.  Trust me, if I had had an inkling, I would have taken my heels off and sprinted on to that Bridge, like a bat out of hell.  But, it was not meant to be, so the lovely Tom had to come up with a new plan of attack.

We were off to Rome on the day in question, I had to go into work in the morning, and Tom had the day off. The Plan went something like this; I write a list, Tom completes the list, he packs his things, meets me for lunch, we come home, I pack my things, we go.   Being the trusting soul I am, I knew the list didn’t need to be too detailed…yeah right!  So, I did what I do best, I wrote a list, aptly named Tom’s jobs, and went on my merry way to work safe in the knowledge that the list was in hand.

Control freak, maybe! Slightly scary girlfriend, possibly, list addict, definitely.  And…yes, he still wanted to marry me.

Having completed his tasks, Tom met me in town, for what was to be a “quick lunch”.  He wanted it to be quick, as he fancied a walk home over the bridge…I did not.  So three courses and a bottle of wine later, we stumbled out of Selfridges, with only an hour to spare until the taxi was picking us up.  Now, I may come across as organised, lists being a case in point, but the truth is I leave everything to the last minute.  I start with the best of intentions, but never quite follow through. We jumped in a cab, Tom looking ever so slightly stressed, and me starting to break out in a sweat.

We got home, 30 minutes to go, and I had packed nothing.  Tom asked me to come and sit down for a minute, as he had a present for me.  Unsuspecting, I politely informed him, or not so politely, that there wasn’t time.  I flapped around a bit more, achieving very little, so he resolutely informed me that I had to sit down immediately or else.  Obviously I sat down charmingly, and happily.  I never uttered the words “we really haven’t got time for this” (Why he wants to marry me I have no idea…) He then presented me with a cannoli and a glass of prosseco, to “get us in the Italian mood” and two presents.  I opened the first, a book on Rome, checked my watch, whilst simultaneously downing my prosecco, and then ripped that paper off the second present…

A book on lists…It was a beautiful book, and inside he had placed the list I had left for him. Now, I know I said that we didn’t have time, well, there is always time to check a list, especially Tom’s Jobs.  I promptly summoned a pen, red preferably.  Yes that’s right, the red ticks are not my diligent boyfriend checking off his jobs, its me, crazy OCD me, checking he had actually completed his tasks.  Yes, his beard was trim, Yes he had called his mum, Yes he had had a hair cut, and was looking particularly handsome.  I was happily reading out the list and ticking them off.  He was doing exceptionally well, and then I turned over… 

Well, its not often I am lost for words, but when I read the last job on the list… and saw him fall to one knee in front of me, I held my breath…

Photo Credit:

Wedding image by Jasmine Jade