I finally finished it! It may be a little long but it is worth reading I promise.
Alex asked me to write the proposal story because while she
knows how it ultimately went down, I know what went on behind the scenes. So
get ready for a behind the scenes tour of “the proposal” ( no not the movie )
It all started in June. I decided I wanted to marry Alex and
started thinking of ways to propose. I thought about the court yard at BYUH
where we started dating, the little cement box by the beach down the street
from my house where Alex and I had our most thought provoking
conversations, the top of Laie Summit
where I realized I wanted to start dating Alex, and the beach where Alex and I
had out first kiss. After thinking about it a good amount, I decided on the
cement box. I know strange, but I had an idea. I wanted to decorate the box
like a picnic table with candles and such, then have a nice picnic dinner and ask Alex to marry me. It sounded wonderful and looked even better in
my head.
If you’re thinking that my idea is really cute or that it
sounds really good I hate to disappoint but it didn’t happen. Something even
more wonderful happened! You see, in order for my plan to propose in Hawaii to
work I would have had to wait all the way until September. If you know Alex and
how amazing she is, you know that I could not possibly wait that long. So I had
to change my plans. Luckily I had the opportunity for Alex to come visit my
family and for me to visit hers. I knew this was a blessing/opportunity I
could not possibly let pass me by.
Once I realized I was able to propose much
sooner than planned, I was very nervous and very excited. I started thinking of
ways to do it in California or in Utah. California went out the window pretty
quickly because I needed to talk to her father first and ask his blessing. So Utah was going to be the place. I thought
and I thought and I thought and I really couldn’t come up with any ideas on how
to go about proposing. Coincidentally during all this thinking I realized I
still didn’t have the ring!
Picking the ring was a little bit of a process- I wanted to
pick it out myself without Alex knowing what ring I ended up getting so it would be more personal and thoughtful. First I
started by asking the future Mrs., and I quickly learned that Alex likes a very wide
range of jewelry. This was a good thing, but slightly frustrating because I
really had no base to go off of. Once I knew I had free range on the type of ring, I
decided to go with my own taste. I went to the store ( The Diamond Gallery for
those of you who live in Fresno ) and found a couple that I really liked. I eventually decided to go with a halo setting and I did not want the diamond to be raised
out of the setting. I wanted what is called a bezel setting. I know you might
be thinking why a bezel setting or what in the tarnation is a bezel setting... well
that is a whole other story. In short, a bezel setting allows
the diamond to sit flush inside of the ring. I didn’t want the diamond to snag
on things and fall out. Also when I was little, my Mom’s diamond would
occasionally poke me when she would pick me up; hence I had a desire for a
bezel setting. Once I had decided all of
that, I went about looking at diamonds. During this whole ordeal my wonderful
mother was kind enough to offer me the diamond in HER original engagement ring.
I thought using it would be a cool way to make the ring even more special so I
took her up on the offer ( thanks again Mom! ).
I had the diamond and I knew what style I wanted, so I
headed back to the store. I picked out a ring, but was nervous to buy it
without Alex’s approval ( dropping a bunch of cash on something she thought
was hideous was not something I wanted to happen ). Luckily, a couple days after
I had gone to the store Alex came into town to meet my family for the first time ever! I brought her to the diamond
gallery, asked her which rings she liked, and BAM! She immediately pointed to
the one I had picked a couple days before! That’s right, I know what I’m doing :) I bought the ring and we drove to Utah on the same day. Ken, the owner of
the Diamond Gallery, promised to ship the ring to me as soon as it was ready.
In Utah, I met Alex’s
family, went to the lake, hung out with some of her friends, and most
importantly, asked her dad's permission to marry his daughter. Chuck didn’t know me all
that well, so it was an understandably long conversation that was also very
fun. We pretty much spent an hour and a half talking about how awesome Alex is
and about Alex’s and my plans for the future. At the end of it I found out I
had passed. I had the green light and it was time to jump.
The date for the jump was July 3rd. The time was
to be determined. The plan was simple. Alex and I would drive up to The Canyons ski resort with her family and watch a concert. At the end of the concert there would be
fireworks. During the concert, Alex and I would ride the chair lift to the top
of the resort and then underneath the beautiful luminescent glow of the
fireworks I would ask Alex to marry me. But then the wildfire in Alpine started that same morning…
We got to The Canyons and found out that the fireworks had
been cancelled and the lift was closed. My heart dropped. I had no backup plan
and a ring burning a hole in my pocket. I frantically texted Alex’s family
asking what they thought my best option was. She was a bit bothered that I was buried in my phone for much of the evening. If she only knew :) At first it seemed the proposal
would have to wait until a later date, but then Chuck saved the
day with a wonderful recommendation!
Chuck suggested I pop the question at another resort in the area- The Montage in Deer Valley. He
and Maggie guided us to the resort and I immediately knew it was the place I
wanted to propose. It looked like a castle that some medieval king had
built tucked away in the mountains. The interior lived up to the resort’s
outside appearance, with beautiful wood work, vaulted ceilings, and a twin
staircase complete with a chandelier in the entrance. It was also a great coincidence that during July, ski resorts aren't the liveliest places. We had this castle to ourselves. Since her parents were with us, Alex didn't suspect anything which was good because I'm not an expert at hiding things from her (an admirable trait in a husband, I might add :D ). But when we split from her parents, she suspiciously asked "What's going on...?" We explored the resort and my seemingly glum and guilty mood sent her the message that the ring had arrived late and I was sad that she might be getting her hopes up. After having a bit of fun exploring our castle, we found a
massive lawn complete with a fire pit overlooking the valley. It was beautiful! The sun was
setting and I felt the moment was right. I reached into my pocket and pulled
out THE RING! I got down on one knee, told Alex I loved her ( and some other details I won’t include )
and then asked her to marry me. She looked into my eyes with the most beautiful
and radiant smile I have ever seen and said…..
Well, I think you know what her answer was :) The rest is history.
