The proposal… 5 years ago

So Facebook has this amazingly cool feature which reminds you of past events. Yesterday, it reminded us that Garfield proposed exactly five years ago. As I went through my engagement album, I was transported to the moment and experienced all the emotions of the day, surprise, bewilderment and happiness. And then I realised that while I shared our story on my wedding website, I never did share our engagement story on my blog, so here's to reminiscing!

When it happened

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Hurricane watch!

It’s October 2010 and we are on a hurricane watch. For the last few days, the news has been filled with images of flooded communities, badly damaged roads and major landslides. Yet, Garfield insists that we will be spending the weekend of October 2nd at Breezes Grand Resort in Negril.

I am excited at first but as the hurricane watch is upgraded to hurricane warnings I begin to think it’s a bad idea. I suggest that maybe we should postpone our trip until after the storm.

“What hurricane, everything will be fine!”

This perhaps should have been the first clue that something was up.

So on Friday after work I got in my car and drove to Negril from Montego Bay. Surprisingly, the sun was out all the way and I thought maybe Garfield was right after all. Though, I couldn’t understand why he chose to drive south coast from Kingston when all the roads were flooded as opposed to meeting me in Montego Bay. He insisted that it was a shorter route and the roads were much better.

Maybe that should have been the second hint!

When I got to Negril, the rain really started pouring, and I was positive that there was going to be a hurricane after all. Garfield was still on his way and was yet to drive through roads which were flooded according to news reports. I started to panic (yes, I am a natural worrier).

Deserted by my mother

I also found it strange that I had not heard from my mom, not even once for the entire day. When we finally spoke she tried to assure me that Garfield would soon be there.

This should have been my third hint!

The mother I know would have been chiding us for going to a Negril on a hurricane weekend?!”

At about 10:30 p.m. Garfield finally arrived dripping wet with a huge grin as if all was well with the world (I won’t mention that there were watermarks up the side mirrors of his jeep or that I later found out that he had to shut off the SUV to be pushed through flooded roads in order to get to Negril). Anyway, he was finally there and that’s all that mattered!

Suspicious staff!

The next day we had breakfast in bed in the most amazing suite. There was a Jacuzzi on our balcony and I was in perfect bliss. Even the weather began to cooperate! The staff was especially attentive and would continuously ask if we were enjoying our stay. Little did I know that everyone was in on the surprise!

The hotel manager and the event coordinator both claimed that they were trying to win us over from our favourite Breezes property in Braco and so they invited us to a special private dinner under a romantic gazebo.

This should have been hint number four perhaps?

Second guessing...

We took a quick run into the town to see if I could get a pedicure and a manicure before dinner. We found a salon but were told that we would have to wait for hours. Garfield was willing to wait, but there was no way in hell I would waste a perfect Saturday waiting to get my nails done! He reluctantly agreed.

This should have been hint number five! No man would voluntarily waste his Saturday at a salon!

As we got back to the hotel and started to get ready for our dinner, Garfield suggested I wore my red dress (no surprises here, he always picks my outfits). I insisted that it was only dinner and “there was no reason on earth why I should dress up so much to go eat dinner!” Instead, I would wear a black dress that he absolutely detested. He left the room.

When he finally came back (in hindsight, I suspect he went to ask himself, “Do I really want to get married to this witch?”) I was wearing the red dress and I was ready to go. He was all smiles.

The conspiracy

We were escorted to dinner by the event manager who kept asking if she had as yet won us over from the Braco property. I thought they were pretty close and my mouth dropped open when I saw our gazebo - candle lit dinner at the edge of the sea, chilled wine, romantic music and our very own personal chef and server. Surely, they had outdone themselves!

We took photos and chatted and laughed and I thought that the night could not get any better as the chef personally presented each course. Everything on the menu was my favourite! I noticed that Garfield was drinking - not sipping - chardonnay and yes nothing is unusual about this, except that Garfield doesn’t drink!

This should have been my hint number six! But I was too caught up in how amazing the night was progressing.

Just before we got to desserts, Garfield suggested that we called it a night and head back to our room. I thought he was crazy! “Surely, we must enjoy the entire meal. Just look at all the effort that has been put into making our dinner special.”

Will you marry me?

No cheesecake but look at the ring!

The platters with our desserts arrived. Our server asked, “Are you ready for your surprise?” I said “Yes, this must be cheesecake!” She lifted the cover and my mouth fell open.

Sitting on the platter was every girl’s best friend - a square-cut diamond - with the words “will you marry me?” Garfield was on his knees and I was in tears!

To be honest everything after that was a daze! Of course, I said yes! I heard nothing of the speech Garfield gave while on his knees. I called my mom who (you guessed it) already knew! I called my friends who were all ecstatic! And of course, Garfield updated his Facebook with the words - she said yes! - so the whole world knew!

We went back to our room that was straight out of a romance movie - candles and rose petals adorned the floor and bed, there was more champagne and delicacies and a gift lying on the bed.

In that moment I knew that I was the LUCKIEST girl in the world!

Do you remember your engagement? Do tell us your story!