If you follow me on social media, then you might already know that in March, 2016 (spoiler alert) I agreed to marry my gorgeous boyfriend of seven years! I was so overwhelmed by the wave of love from everyone's wishes and I don't even know where to begin to thank you all. A common question was, "How did he propose?" and I thought I would share the answer...
How we met...
In July 2008, I was on a night out with my girlfriends playing what is known as ‘pub golf’. Dressed in traditional ‘golf gear’, Argyle over-the-knee socks and short skirts, we set out to complete our ‘golf course’ of nine local bars, carrying our toy golf clubs on our backs.
In the eighth bar, I was walking past Andy and his friends and he stepped out in front of me. His friends told me that he was a pro golfer and that I had to stop and talk to him. Of course, I assumed that this was an elaborate chat up line, but it wasn’t, he IS a pro golfer!
His smile was infectious and I spent the night chatting to him about our favourite things and at the end of the night (after many failed and cheesy chat up lines), we kissed and I gave him my number. Andy contacted me pretty much immediately and asked me on a date, but I made it clear to him that I wasn’t interested in dating anyone.
For the remainder of the summer, I travelled around the west coast of America. Towards the end of my trip I was driving down Sunset Boulevard in LA and got a text from him asking me again to go on a date. I hadn’t realised how persistent golfers are! Andy pursued me with a true sportsman dedication and I liked his commitment to the cause.
When I arrived home, I gave up the fight and agreed to go on a date with him. From that moment on, neither of us looked back.
How he asked...
For my 30th birthday present, Andy took me on a trip to Iceland. On our first day, we spent the afternoon in the blue lagoon.
After watching the sunset, we got into our car and travelled to Hotel Ion in Nesjavellir. It is a luxury, eco-friendly hotel perched on stilts at the foot of Mount Hengil in the stunning wilderness of southwest Iceland, which makes it perfect for stargazing and a great spot for the Northern Lights!
Upon arriving to the hotel, I understood the hype surrounding it. The scenery demanded attention and the minimalist design in the Nordic themed hotel was stunning in contrast. After an incredible meal in Ion’s Silfra Restaurant, we were too full for dessert and opted to have a drink in the glass-walled Northern Lights bar. Snuggled up under a wool blanket, we looked out at the vast, other-worldly landscape and were delighted when the aurora peaked out from behind the mountain and our very own light show began.
After our drink I was tired and suggested that we should go back to our suite. Andy insisted that we should go for a walk in the snow because experiencing the Northern Lights would be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. I couldn’t really argue with him, so went back to the room and swapped my heels for snow boots and off we went.
We walked through the snow covered lava fields, under the dancing green lights in the sky. When I said I was cold, Andy said we could warm up by standing beside the lights under the stilts holding up the hotel. Walking over to the lights was beautiful – the hotel had lit hundreds of candles in the glass-fronted lava spa and the candlelight was bouncing off the 12metre lava pool.
Cuddled up against one of the stilts, Andy pulled out a little pile of Polaroids from his parka. He had travelled around taking photos of all the places that have been significant in our relationship and written under each photo, “Where we first kissed…”, “Where we had our first date…”, etc. We chatted through the memories behind each photo and at this stage I had no idea what was coming and thought that it was just part of a romantic birthday present.
When he produced the ring box from his pocket and dropped to one knee, I was silent for the first time in my life. I was in complete shock! When I was stood there, mouth open and was yet to answer his question of, “Will you marry me?” he laughed and said my favourite line of, “Well Fiona, what do you say? Can I be your real life Instagram husband?” (This is after years of torturing Andy to take photos of me and allowing our meals to go cold while I ‘got the right photo!’ for Instagram).
And of course, in the most stunning setting I could have wished for, I threw my arms around him and said YES!