If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, you might know that Jay and I started talking about getting engaged after about a year and a half of officially dating. Some of you might think that’s early, but remember, we were seeing each other without being “boyfriend and girlfriend” for 7 months before that. Also, it’s true when they say, “When you know, you know.”

In my mind, there were a ton of perfect “proposal opportunities” that had come and gone without Jay popping the question. We had the Thomas Rhett concert that we went to on our two year anniversary (another couple in the crowd got engaged). We had Wofford Homecoming, which my parents came to (another Wofford couple got engaged). The big one we had was our anniversary trip to Asheville, which was one of the most romantic weekends ever (everyone and their moms thought this was for sure when we were getting engaged). Still, no proposal. I finally had to tell myself to stop expecting it, and that it would happen when it happens. 

It is now Thanksgiving Day 2017. My mom’s side of the family was in town celebrating with us. Jay was planning on eating Thanksgiving lunch with his family in Columbia, and then driving the two hour commute to Beaufort to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us. My parents own an inn in Beaufort called Anchorage 1770. My mom asked me that night if Jay and I wanted to stay at the inn, so my Aunt could stay in my room at our house. I think I was too pumped about having a night at the inn with Jay to realize that that offer made no sense. Why would my aunt want to stay in my room at my house over a nice room at the inn? This should have been clue number one that something was up.

The next day (the Friday after Thanksgiving) Jay and I were on our way to my house from the inn to hang out with my family all day. We planned on having a big family dinner at our house, because we do Thanksgiving with the inn guests every year. In the car, Jay (very casually) said to me, “I know that we’re here with your family, and that you want to spend time with them, but at some point tonight I want you to carve out some time around sunset to have a glass of wine with me on your dock.” 

You guys are probably thinking, “Okay isn’t it obvious that he was planning on proposing?” My parent’s house in Beaufort, Jay’s parent’s house on Lake Murray, and Jay’s apartment in downtown Columbia all have great sunset views. So having a drink and watching the sunset was something that we did often. Still, this was clue number two.

When we got to my house, my mom asked me if I wanted to get my nails done with her and my sister. This was clue number three. I still didn’t think anything was up though, because I always get my nails done with my mom when I’m home. When she asked that I said, “What’s Jay supposed to do while I get my nails done? I’m not just going to leave him at our house for an hour when he’s here to visit me.” My mom was going to keep pushing, but my sister secretly texted her saying, “Leave it alone or she’ll think something is up. I’ve already looked at her nails and they look good.”

Okay, now I’m going to switch over to what was going on in Jay’s mind. Jay was using a jeweler in Beaufort for the ring, so that my mom could help him with any tough decisions. Jay purposefully left his work phone at the inn, so he could “go back and get it” while also swinging by the jewelers to pick up the ring. Well, I also happened to leave some jewelry at the inn. I called my cousin who was still at the inn (she was not yet in on the proposal), and asked her if she could grab my jewelry. While I was on the phone with her, she said, “There’s a phone in your room. Do you want me to bring that, too?” Jay said, “Oh I must have left my work phone.” So, my cousin ruined Jay’s plan and brought his phone to him.

While I was upstairs hanging out with my sister, Jay was downstairs trying to figure out how he was going to pick up the ring. When I came back downstairs, I asked where Jay was. My mom said, “Oh he went back to the inn to get Aunt Susie’s pants.” This odd excuse should have been clue number 4. Remember, my aunt was staying at my house, so why would her pants be at the inn? But, all I thought was, “Aww, that’s so sweet of him to do that for her.”

When it started to get close to sunset, I said something to Jay about not wanting to miss it. He replied, “Don’t worry, it’s not for another 20 minutes. I checked.” Okay, this I thought was weird, because even though we always watched the sunset, we never checked what time it was. We would just go out there until it happened. This was clue number 5. I still didn’t think anything was up, I just thought it was odd that he checked the exact sunset time.

When Jay finally asked if I was ready to watch the sunset, he had a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes in his hands. Ding, ding, ding! This was clue number 6, a.k.a the moment I figured out what was going on. I still tried not to get my hopes up too high, in case I was wrong. I casually asked him, “Is that a nice bottle of champagne?” Jay responded with, “The nicest one they had.” I figured it was safe to get my hopes up then. 

We walked down to the dock, and he poured us both a glass of champagne. We just stood there for a while in silence, sipping our champagne, and watching the sunset. Y’all. I was SHAKING. We started to make some small talk, but quite honestly, I don’t remember anything we said. 

Finally, he turned to me and he took the champagne out of my hand. I’m sure I had the biggest, goofiest smile on my face. He took my hands, looked me in the eyes, and told me how in love with me he was. He told me how amazing the past two years had been with me, and how he couldn’t imagine any more without me. That’s when he got down on one knee, and with tears in his eyes and a little crack in his voice, asked me to marry him. Big surprise, I said yes. I immediately heard claps and cheers coming from the house, and when I turned around, I saw that Jay’s family was there, too. I really don’t think I stopped smiling the whole night. 

After calling all of the family member’s that weren’t there and answering some calls from a few close friends, Jay and I just took time to celebrate. We had a fabulous steak dinner with somewhere around 20 people. I had one glass of wine and that’s it. I wanted to vividly remember everything I was feeling in that moment, which was complete and utter happiness. We spent the rest of the night singing and dancing with the people we love the most. It was hands down one of the best days of my life.