Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?
This past December on our trip to New Zealand, while hiking in the Southern Alps, Caleb proposed to me! Caleb had planned out the whole day unbeknownst to me. The morning of, we went on a beautiful three-hour hike to one of the glaciers in the Aoraki National Park. I thought the next thing on the agenda after our hike was a 4-wheel tour of the park. When we showed up at the local airport, I assumed this was the location where the tour started. However, Caleb surprised me and said we were going on a helicopter tour! I didn’t suspect anything at this point because he had expressed interest in doing this months before our trip, but we decided not to due to the price. We went inside to check in and the tour guides had to deliver bad news- we couldn’t go out that day due to the weather. I didn’t think anything of it and just said to Caleb, “Let’s just try again tomorrow”. Caleb, of course, was very disappointed. I suggested we go back to the hostel, where we were staying. We could eat lunch, take a nap, and go on another hike. He had to break it to me at that point that we couldn’t nap at the hostel because he had checked us out and we were going to be staying at the Heritage Hotel up the road. At this point, all I was thinking was, why is he spending so much money today?! So we went back, gathered our things, had a bite to eat, and moved onto the big fancy hotel. After resting for a bit, we set out for another hike.
We chose to hike to the Tasman Glacier, which is one of the largest glaciers in the southern hemisphere, the largest in New Zealand. On the way up, there were two paths to choose from. I saw several groups going left, so I suggested we follow the group since they must know what they’re doing. Caleb disagreed and said, “let’s take the quite path”. We arrived at the glacier, and oh how beautiful and disturbing it was! We had heard that this glacier has been melting at a rapid pace, and once we saw it with our own eyes, it was sad to see how big the glacier melt lake was. The edge of the glacier was way off in the distance and there were massive icebergs floating away from it. Caleb wanted to get a better vantage point, so he climbed up a hill. He yelled down for me to join him. I must note that I was recovering from an ankle surgery, and was lucky to even be hiking at all at this point! So, climbing a hill seemed daunting to me. As I scaled the side, I was thinking, “This better be worth it” (It was!) The views were to die for. As I stood in awe, and ranted and raved about glacier melt, Caleb set up his video camera. He asked me to come stand by him. Once he got me where he wanted me, the camera fell, so I walked back out to take more photos. I didn’t think anything of this situation because I had that video camera in my face the entire trip. Caleb loves his gadgets. Anyways, he stood the camera back up, grabbed me again, and took my hand. He said, “Babe, the surprises today don’t stop here…” He got down on one knee saying, “I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” The surprise of a lifetime, I tell you, and with such a magnificent background, it was one of the most magical moments. We’re looking forward to so many more adventures!
What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?
Asking people to be part of our wedding party!
How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?
Take a break, have a glass of wine, and re-evaluate our budget.
What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?
It’s well designed and user-friendly!
What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?
Have fun with it.
At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?
For us, life is an adventure. Our wedding weekend will be one wonderful moment amongst a sea of future, wonderful moments. The joy of having one another is the gift of life.
