She Said Yes (Part 2)

So, where were we? Oh yes, I had decided the key ingredients for my (hopefully) successful proposal. So where did I start? To begin with I needed a general premise to the act. My thoughts basically went along the lines of – if I was Sharon, and I just got engaged, what would I do next? The answer to my mind would be to ring up the parents, then ring her closest friends to tell them the big news. Probably then followed by updating her Facebook status…

See what I mean?

So I took that as my key flavour. I found as many of her closest friends’ details and sent out a mass message through Facebook detailing exactly what I wanted to do: Wherever I wanted to actually do the deed, I would suggest going for a drink to celebrate, and when we got there all her friends would be there: No phone calls needed. Sharon doesn’t have any siblings so this seemed the best way to help her celebrate, and also match the key criteria of make her the centre of attention.

Next up was actually deciding on a proposal venue again. I still had the same dilemma I had before – if I made it too ostentatious she would soon cotton-on to what was unfolding – she simply knows me too well. So I started to think of activities we have done or had planned to do at some point. This is when I came up with my inspiration.

Sharon has amazing personal style – she makes her own jewellery and takes vintage accessories, items and themes and manages to use them in a truly modern way. She always looks stunning. Her love of design was the key, and I could think of one place in London that would particularly fit the bill: The Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

The V&A I found out is an amazing building, full of unique spaces, beautiful items and plenty of inspiration. I has previously never been to the place, mainly because I am a bloke, and thought it was essentially a warehouse full of hats and dresses. How wrong I was. When I did my “recce” a few weeks ago I realised that it was not only a beautiful building, but it had tons of great things to talk about and look at inside.

Due to the fact that I had not had any former interest in the place, it also gave me an excuse, as I had told Sharon we’d go there eventually – hopefully my suggestion to visit would just be seen as another lame excuse to earn Brownie points! However, now my creative juices were flowing, I couldn’t stop there. When we moved into our flat we took some pictures near our old place in Herne Hill: Brockwell Park.

After the winter snows we suddenly had a set of pictures that had a “summer” and a “winter” theme to them – soon after came a set we made for “spring” and all we’ve had left was “autumn.” We missed the boat last year as it was particularly crap weather and we were extremely busy. So I took the opportunity to tag on a trip to Hyde Park onto the Museum visit, so it really looked like I was trying to plan some (rather generic) things for us to do.

STD was lousy at hide and seek

So how did it go? In the morning I made her breakfast in bed – she has been feeling kinda stressed recently and so I had the perfect opportunity to try and raise her spirits. I also had to try and counter a hangover she had inherited from the previous night out with a friend. We caught the train and headed into London. So far so good.

I had all the friends arriving at 2pm at the hotel bar I had found opposite the V&A, so my recce was a useful thing to have done to make sure things went to plan. The walk though the Park took us about half an hour longer than I had originally planned, but it was well within limits and formed a really good platform for Sharon to relax and have some fun after a night out on the town. All good, and we got some great pictures (like the one from my previous post) of us both together and general “autumn-y” shots. We made our way down to the V&A, and sauntered our way through – not really tarrying to look at much in a huge amount of detail. Really just absorbing the site and atmosphere and picking out particularly amazing items we both liked.

Winding our way though the museum I coaxed our way to the John Madejski Garden at the centre of the museum.

The John Madejski Garden

Taking Sharon to the most secluded corner so we could “have a break” I told her that I had a confession to make. While she was busy on the security checks at the front desk, I had slipped into the gift shop to get her a present. After confirming that she wanted to receive the gift straight away (thank God) I told her to close her eyes and hold out her hand. Placing the open box in her palm I got down on one knee and told her to open her eyes.

I spoke the words I had chosen for this moment, remembering some, forgetting others but keeping to the 5 “hooks” I had chosen to remind me. She said yes and I was SO relieved – I had started to fluff my lines a bit and was starting to get a bit emotional – more so than she appeared to be. I stood up and she then explained that she was in so much shock everything I had said had gone right over her head.

Luckily I had my reminder card in my jacket pocket too, so was able to go through each and every item I wanted to say to her. She promptly nicked it for her forthcoming keepsake box!

Telling her the reason why I had been so weird with times through the day, was because I had booked us a table at the Rembrandt Hotel for afternoon tea to celebrate. Crossing the road we got to the hotel, and went inside – and the surprise was the best success yet: they were all there waiting for her and I could tell it was a genuine shock for her to see them all there.

Job done.

I’ve probably missed some little bits and pieces here and there so feel free to drop a comment below or on the forums, and I’ll fill in any gaps – I think I’ve surpassed the normal word count by a lot as it is!

Dan W, your Stag Test Dummy

Related Posts:

• Vintage Picnics: A Superior Way To Propose
• She Said Yes! (Part 1)
• What Do You Say When You Propose?
• Engagement Rings And Proposals Abroad: Part Deux
• Blowing The Doors Off