By his own admission my husband is not particularly romantic. That doesn’t mean he isn’t thoughtful, he is. He’ll de-ice my car in a morning and bring me a cup of tea in bed but he isn’t one for grand romantic gestures. Maybe that’s what made his proposal that little bit more special.
In Spring 2007 my future husband had a phone call from one of his suppliers at work asking if we fancied an all expenses paid trip to Venice in the summer. Ermmm, let me think about that for a minute. Yes, we bit their arm off! Venice was on my places I’d love to visit list and I couldn’t wait.
At the time I had been with the other half for twelve years (with a brief split around the time I went to uni) and we had been living together for four years. Every time we went anywhere as a couple the inevitable question came up, “so, when are you getting engaged?” and to be honest I was getting a bit fed up of waiting too. Every birthday, Christmas, 1st of the month I was getting my hopes up only to be disappointed.
August came and off we went to Venice, along with two other couples. We arrived in the early evening and caught a private water taxi from the airport. If ever I was going to have a movie star moment, this was it. Speeding in the water towards the city as the sun was setting was just magical.
Plus our hotel had it’s own dock so we got dropped off literally at the door!
The hotel was stunning and Venice was amazing, I fell in love with the place straight away. I loved the narrow streets and the little bridges that crossed all the canals, everywhere was just beautiful.
Our view from breakfast
On the day he proposed we had all arranged to spend a little couple time so we wandered off to try and find Harry’s Bar. We did find it quite quickly but were refused entry as the boy had shorts on, something which actually worked out for the best. We wandered across the “road” and found a table outside a nearby hotel and spent the afternoon drinking cocktails overlooking the Grand Canal.
Also outside the hotel was a Gondola station. We sat watching people coming and going and noticed that quite a few people had opted for a bottle of champagne whilst they had their gondola ride. What a fab idea! We decided to go back to our hotel, get dressed up for the evening out and take a champagne gondola ride before dinner.
We booked the gondola at the hotel and it picked us up with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in an ice bucket with two glasses sat waiting. We hadn’t gone too far, I think hubby to be was perhaps a bit nervous, when he turned to me and said, “I have a surprise for you.” Now in my head I’m thinking; Venice, gondola, champagne…if this isn’t a ring I’m pushing him in! Luckily for him, it was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen and he popped the question.
Obviously I said yes!
He may have taken his time about it, but it was definitely worth the wait!
How sweet! A memory in a place you’ll always treasure! #sharewithme
normaleverydaylifeblog recently posted…Traveling Through the Teenage Years
Lovely story, I really laughed at the ‘if it’s not a ring I’m pushing him in’ part, I think I would have done too! Popping over from Brilliant Blog Posts
Ahhh this is lovely! I have always wanted to go to Venice, looks amazing. Love that bottom pic 🙂 xx
Potty Mouthed Mummy recently posted…Wicked Wednesdays #28 | Egg Boy
Yay!! 🙂 What a gorgeous story Jo! And Venice is the perfect place for a proposal, definitely. We got engaged on a boat too, in a much less glamorous place though! Loved reading this xx
12 years? Crikey? And I’m complaining that we have been together 5 years Without a ring! Haha. Sounds so romantic, now I’m dreaming… haha.
Nat / UEM recently posted…Moving House with a toddler – The Move (Part two of Two)
I loved Venice. I love the fact that there is no noise and it is a truly magical place. This brought back wonderful memories of my honeymoon. #BrilliantBlogPosts.
Mariet – Practicingnormal recently posted…Celebrating love with books
Aww! What a lovely story! So romantic! I would have pushed him in too if he hadn’t have proposed….hehehe
Lovely photos x
Kim Carberry recently posted…Valentine Printables from Wayfair!
Oh I love a proposal story and that was lovely! Never been to Venice but would love to go x
Donna recently posted…Eating Healthier with Marks and Spencer
Wow! What a lovely story! And so romantic – I can imagine Venice was perfect x
mentalparentals recently posted…Tiny Tickers Heart Week 2015 – 7th – 14th February
Ahhh that is the most romantic engagement ever. I never got proposed to so I feel cheated. It was deportation or get hitched. lol Sort of takes the romance out of anything. lol This is so beautiful. And I am actually taking my mom to Venice next month so you just made me all excited for it now. What a lovely story to be able to tell your little one when he is older too. Thank you ever so much for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Jenny recently posted…Valentine’s Day Chocolate Hearts Cake Recipe
Awe what a beautiful proposal!! You look unbelievably happy!!
FromMummytoMum recently posted…Tiny Tickers – Feb 11th
Loved reading this Jo and the photo of you at the end has just made it perfect! You look so, so happy and to be fair that is one of the best proposal stories I have heard! xx
Hayley (@hayleyfromhome) recently posted…Living Arrows {7/52}
Awwwww what a perfect place to be proposed to 🙂 it took us 9 years to get married with a brief split in between too. We haven’t done Venice yet though. We need to!
Notmyyearoff recently posted…Ordinary Moments – “Hold my hand!”