The Proposal
To say that I’m a very lucky girl is an understatement...“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with”. So, being anywhere with Chris is my happy place. Our proposal didn’t exactly go as he planned because fate stepped in. (To be honest, I would have said “yes” anywhere, but Chris thought I deserved something special.)
Chris had planned to come to Erie, PA from Maryland for the weekend of June 18, 2016, which was not out of the ordinary given our long-distance relationship. We had been happily together for 6 years at this point. He was planning to propose to me that weekend at Presque Isle State Park (our local beach) with my family coming up to witness. Of course, I had no idea, so in the interest of doing something less mundane, I planned a trip for us to go to the Finger Lakes region of NY with our friends from Erie, the O’Donnell family, to meet up with my cousin and her family for a weekend of camping. This fortunately led to the most romantic proposal ever, and where my best friend put a ring on my finger. Here’s how it happened…
It was my cousin, Jessica’s, birthday weekend. She planned for us to go on a Keuka Lake Wine Tour for her birthday (and our engagement… but I didn’t know that part yet). Our first stop was Lime Berry Winery; this was my favorite winery in the region as I had been to this area wine tasting with Jessica before. My favorite bottle of wine from Lime Berry is their Bunny Bunny. We were wine tasting in the barn that Lime Berry had converted to their wine tasting room. Since I love Lime Berry, I was taking my sweet, slow, time tasting all of their different wines. I noticed that everyone else in our party was jumpy and anxious, though, not wanting to calmly taste the wines. I was a bit confused as to why they were anxious and I remember laughing at my cousin, telling her to “relax” because we were just having fun for her birthday and we had no strict plans (little did I know...). I finished tasting the different wines and we left the barn. Outside the barn, Lime Berry has a place with picnic tables, corn hole, and hay bales to sit and relax. Chris suggested that we go over to the hay bales to sit and relax for a few minutes before we went to the next winery. I happily agreed – it was a nice, sunny day, and I was having a great time. We sat down and Chris handed me a bottle of wine. It was Bunny Bunny – my favorite bottle... but this was no ordinary bottle!
He told me to turn the bottle around, and there was a picture on it saying, “Will You Marry Me?” I was in shock! I looked up at him and he was on his knee, with the ring in his hand! I was completely consumed in the entire moment! Of course, I said, “Yes!”
With all the congratulatory cheers, the owners of Lime Berry heard us, and they came out to congratulate us. The owners were so touched that they presented us with a bottle of specialty champagne, which was a personal, family-made champagne that had never been sold in stores. I called my parents and best friends to tell them the news. I had to call my parents separately because apparently they were not together and my dad was running errands. I’ll never forget how my dad congratulated me over the phone and said to me “well, hey, since I have you on the phone, I’m shopping at Costco – you want anything?” I laughed and told him that I’d give him a shopping list later. I digress, but that part of the story is actually funny because, little did I know, my dad was not shopping at Costco but rather he, my mom, and siblings were actually en route for another surprise that Chris had planned for that day (more of that part of the story soon).
We left Lime Berry and continued on our wine tour, visiting a few more wineries and a brewery. We ended the day by going to a local restaurant right on the lake to eat and watch the sunset. We walked in, sat down at our table prepared for us on the dock, and I felt someone hug me from behind. I turned around and my brother was hugging me with my little sister, mom, and dad standing next to him. Not only did Chris plan an amazing proposal, but he included my family in the day! I started crying. I was so overwhelmed with the joy of the day and all of the love and support I was surrounded by. We finished the night with a campfire, popcorn, champagne, and lots of stories.
I am not surprised by the amount of thought and effort that Chris put into the proposal. He has always put our relationship first and made me his top priority.
We look forward to celebrating our love with the wedding (and our unopened bottle of congratulatory champagne from Lime Berry) in June of 2017, in Annapolis, MD surrounded by friends and family.
