Dely: I'll let Shax tell you the story but he got me so good. I remember just thinking that this can't be real. And poor guy was on his knees forever because I was busy crying and forgot to say yes. Then the crowd started yelling "say yes, say yes" and that's when I snapped back to reality. It was magical and some of my favorite people were there! The cutest thing is that he used a clear box with a flower in it that I had just seen and been obsessing over during our Florida trip.
Shax: The thought had always been daunting at the back of my mind for some time. Then we happened to be planning a trip to Florida and that's when the light bulb went off! Which other perfect moment will I ever have than this? The idea was to propose during dinner on our last night of the trip, little did I know that the jeweler didn't want me to be great! They told me that the ring was not going to be ready in time for the trip. I was stressed the whole trip trying to figure out plan B.
During our trip, we got an invite to the grand opening of Peter Lik's (a self-taught pioneer in the field of landscape photography) Fine Art gallery that was opening up in Virginia and the event was on the same day we were landing back from our Florida trip. That's when another light bulb went off. There was my plan B, to propose in the middle of the gallery with Jazz music playing and this time we can have some of our friends and her family attend. Little did I know that the manager did not want me to be great! At this point, I start to panic. I already had her family scheduled to be in town for the weekend and I had to figure out plan C ASAP.
On our way to our gate, I get a notification that Christopher Linman was performing at the Ritz-Carlton (one of our favorite places which is also where we spent our first valentines). That's when another light bulb went off again! So I messaged him right before the flight took off. Fast-forward, you know those first notifications you get as the airplane is landing? 5-10 of them were from Chris with confirmation that it's possible and asked if we were still on because he couldn't reach me for a while. What an impression! While waiting for our Uber, I stepped outside to call him to go over the details of the night. The trip from the airport was the longest because I still had to get ready and you guessed right. Go PICK UP THE RING! At this point, Dels thinks that I'm just excited to go to the grand opening because I was all over the place. I quickly got ready then snuck out of the house to pick up the ring while she was getting ready. Phew, everything worked out perfectly. FINALLY!
On our way, I casually mentioned that we were all going to the Ritz after the event. Fast-forward, I'm on the mic at the Ritz calling her name out to join me. Oh! it was also her birthday, so the band is singing happy birthday to her as she walks towards me with a WTF face on. After wishing her a happy birthday I glanced over to the crowd as I got down on one knee to ask her the question and saw her family. Did I mention that I got stuck there for what felt like forever? She just froze and that's when I knew I had nailed it.
