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Inspiration » Proposal Story » Joy Proposal Story: Hugo & Serah

Joy Proposal Story: Hugo & Serah

by Cali Pitchel

Hugo and Serah met through mutual friends, and had their first date on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. They went to a café for ice cream and waffles, where he spent most of the time talking while Serah, a huge introvert, nodded and listened. When they left, it was raining and they walked to the train station together in the rain, sharing his umbrella. (Just like the movies!) He thought she was shy, but liked Serah enough to ask her out again! Serah thought he was nice, but little did she know that down the road they’d actually be planning a wedding!


 

Give us the details! When? Where? How?

We’ve never told anyone our proposal story, not even our closest friends. I did write about my engagement ring on my blog, but we had wanted to keep the proposal details just for ourselves. But since Joy asked, here’s the story! It wasn’t grand, and it wasn’t even really a surprise, but it was us and it was ours.

The night before he proposed, I was actually feeling troubled and upset about our relationship and was texting him long messages about all our issues and my feelings. The next day, he arrived at my place as expected since it was a public holiday and we had planned to spend it together. We spent the day at a lovely aquarium, watching fish and rays swim in an enormous blue tank.

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After that, he asked me if we could go to what we called The Creepy Place. (Backstory: The Creepy Place is a small, sheltered, secluded playground located at the top of a hill. It’s actually part of a private club, but the playground is accessible through its back entrance by any member of the public, if they know how to find it. We discovered it very early in our dating days, and regularly hung out there as we had privacy (or so we thought).

It wasn’t grand, and it wasn’t even really a surprise, but it was us and it was ours.

That was where we shared many special moments—long talks, and even our first kiss. One evening though, we discovered that it actually wasn’t as private as we thought, because a security guard saw us making out on CCTV and came to chase us away! And so ended our evenings at Creepy Place.

The moment he asked if we could go there, I pretty much knew he was planning to propose. We hadn’t been there ever since getting chased away, so for us to go back now would mean something was up. I was secretly over the moon, because that place had always been my dream spot for a proposal, given all the memories we made there. And so we risked it and went back to the top of the hill, to our spot, just the two of us. We settled down on a bench and he started talking about the significance of this place for us, echoing my own thoughts. And then before I knew it, he was taking the ring out of the box, but still hiding it in his palm.

The only reason we’re still standing is because we stubbornly refused to give up despite all the odds and we both made very conscious choices to stay.

“You still won’t let me see it?” I asked. I knew he had had it for a couple of weeks, and he knew how much I’d been wanting to see it.
“I have to get down on one knee first, don’t I?” he replied. This took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting that kind of old-fashioned chivalry, and he isn’t exactly someone who values traditions. And maybe, part of me didn’t want to see him on bended knee in front of me, the him I always thought of as my tall strong hero.

But on that warm day in July, my tall strong hero lowered himself to the ground before an underserving girl, one knee in a grass patch, held out my dream ring, and said, ‘will you marry me?’

There was no other answer but yes.

What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?

The first time we went to a bridal studio together and he saw me in a wedding gown. That was pretty special.

How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?

It’s honestly overwhelming having to take care of so many details, plus we’re also house-hunting at the same time (which is such a nightmare!) and will soon have to deal with the headache of renovations in addition to wedding-planning. I would say that it’s the end destination that’s getting us through it all- we can’t wait to live together in our own home, just the two of us (at least for a while!), and that won’t happen unless we’re officially married and have a house, so having that sweet goal in mind to work towards is what spurs us on.

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What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?

I love that there is so much you can customize, and the RSVP function is really useful- you can add all the questions you need to ask your guests, and JOY collates all the responses for you.

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At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?

That truly resonates with me. To be very honest, I’ll actually be glad and relieved when the wedding day is done and over, that has never been the part I’m looking forward to most, believe it or not. What I can’t wait to get down to is doing actual Life with my best friend. Setting up a home. Doing laundry at midnight and Saturday grocery runs. Waking up to each other’s morning breaths. Fighting over whose turn it is to wash the dishes. The wedding’s really just a wedding, but it’s the marriage that will be a lifetime of (team)work, effort, as well as the sweetest rewards you’ll ever reap and the greatest joy you’ll ever taste.

It still feels surreal to me sometimes that we’ve made it this far given how we’re such total opposites and drive each other mad. We both had very steep learning curves to conquer when it came to this relationship and last year especially was extremely hard and we had some very, very dark days. The only reason we’re still standing is because we stubbornly refused to give up despite all the odds and we both made very conscious choices to stay—and I guess somehow, love really did find a way, and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

 

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