Engagement Rings And Proposals Abroad: Part Deux

Konichiwa, everyone.

I’m back on the blogging horse after a slight gap (changing jobs is surprisingly time-consuming), and having read Dan ‘STD’ Woodward’s blog about his engagement I’m looking forward to picking up where I left off last time.

So, we landed in NYC on the Thursday lunchtime feeling entirely excited and massively looking forward to our week away (our bags were fine, by the way – hope that isn’t too much of an anticlimax after last week’s cliffhanger). My plan was thus – on the Saturday, we would take a walk to Central Park, grab a picnic on the way, and, on a warm, sunny June day I would propose to this girl who had made my life such a joy for the last 2 years.

Grey. Bah.

Saturday arrived, and, bounding out of bed and excitedly opening the curtains, I saw what can only be described as grey sky. Not just grey, MUGGY and grey – this was not what I had ordered.

Still, we headed out, and hopeful of things brightening up, we made our merry way up 7th Avenue to Central Park. Saturday, it turns out, is when most of New York heads to Central Park to “do sports” – big games of baseball, and football were underway, as well as plenty of lycra-d nutters bombing their way around the internal roads of the park.

Slowly, but surely, it starts to rain. Spitting at first, but by the time we reach the carousel about a quarter of the way up the park, we are scrabbling for umbrellas. “Crap”, thinks I, as Emma suggests we do something “indoorsy”  – I reluctantly agree, and a short subway ride takes us to the warm embrace of Bloomingdales. This was not going to plan.

A coffee and cake later, and I suggest we head back out as I know Emma is keen to see the Jackie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir (and what a name that is). Again, we jump on the subway and, having missed a stop, end up right to the top of Central Park in Harlem.

By now, it is absolutely PISSING it down with rain. I mean the kind of rain that you would probably run to your car in. The kind that, if you lived near a river, you would move your sofa upstairs for. Through gritted teeth I told Emma in no uncertain terms that I was determined to see more of Central Park, and that we would do so today. Slightly bemused but being British and on holiday, Emma was making the best of a wet situation and going along with things – luckily for me. Arriving at the top of Central Park, we make our way past Harlem Meer and into some small ornamental gardens.

A lot has been written, both in the forums and in a lot of the blogs on Staggered, about what to say when it comes to proposing – and rightly so. You’re both going to remember this moment for the rest of your lives, and so (no pressure) you need to get it right. Unlike Dan, I was extremely unprepared – I had a good idea of what I wanted to say but hadn’t written anything down and frankly by this point, if I had, it would be illegible due to the vast amount of water currently sloshing about my person.

I sat Emma down on a bench with an umbrella over her head, and after asking her to close her eyes whilst I rooted in my bag, I produced the ring and asked her to marry me. I’d love to tell you what I said, but I have to confess, I have no idea. Those 10 minutes were both the most memorable but un-remembered, romantic but soggy, and deliriously happy but fed up in my entire life and I would not change a thing. There were tears (we were both blubbing) and I definitely remember sitting there admiring the ring on her finger and thinking that things had turned out really rather well.

After a taxi back to the hotel and some calls/texts to the important people in our lives, I announced that I had booked somewhere special for dinner. See, prior to leaving for New York I had found a restaurant on Times Square called ‘The View’, which offered a REVOLVING dining room, 48 stories up, that gave some amazing views across New York. Although you were not allowed to book the window seats, I sent an email pleading with them that, since I was proposing to my girlfriend on that day, it would mean so much to be able to get one.

At The View

Anywho, we arrive at the restaurant only to be greeted by a massive queue. Each person who went to the desk was asked whether they wanted to wait for a window seat (they all did) and if so, it would be about an hour’s wait. I stepped up, and after giving my name, was asked to follow the waitress… right to a window seat. If this wasn’t enough, the waitress then asked to see the ring, and then followed a fantastic night of eating, drinking, and chatting with German tourists that I shall never forget, made all the more special by the welcome and service that the restaurant provided.

As I said in an earlier post, getting engaged was incredible, and it just made the rest of our holiday all the more special. Of course, that was well over a year ago, and although the sentiment has never left, we are slowly but surely getting down to the stressful but exciting process of arranging a wedding…

… which is where I’ll pick up next week.

Related Posts:

• She Said Yes (Part 2)
• She Said Yes! (Part 1)
• What Do You Say When You Propose?
• 10% Propose While Their Partner Does The Cleaning
• One Ring To Rule Them Both