We're Getting Married!

Although the proposal was in October, months of planning was required before. With my work travel schedule constantly in flux, I had to have flexibility in planning the proposal. I wanted to be able to surprise her while having a photographer capture the moment. On the past couple of trips, we always meet with a photographer (mostly Anna's photographer friends) and take each other's pictures. The next hurdle was finding a week of vacation in her schedule. There was only one weekend in October that Anna wasn't booked for a wedding. I knew that if the location was right/perfect (and used my miles), she would take the vacation. Convincing her to meet me at a location was difficult. The first location was Lisbon, Portugal. We both hadn't been and it would have been great in my work schedule. But my job in Portugal was postpone and the logistics getting there was pricey. Next, I enlisted help from Anna's best friend, Annika, to guilt Anna to come to Germany and meet her daughter for the first time. In the end, she was convinced to visit Bremen for a few days, then fly to Paris (I am not a fan of Paris, but Anna loves the city). Before Anna and I finished planning the trip, I was already gone. My work schedule had me go from Osaka, Japan to Hamburg, Germany. Then a couple of days in Milan and finally back to Netherlands where I went to meet and pick up Anna! We visited Bremen, Germany with our friends and enjoyed a Northern version of Octoberfest! Then flew to Paris on the weekend for a few more days. Anna had already booked a photographer in Paris for us the next morning. No one knew of the proposal (except Benjamin & Annika). I carried the ring in my sock the entire shoot. I waited until the end and asked for the photographer to take one more picture! Anna was shocked and surprised! She said "No, No, No" in disbelief. Then she said, "Yes"!

October is always a VERY busy month for me. Lots of getting ready for the holidays in my corporate job, and weddings every weekend with my photography business. Patrick managed to find the ONE weekend I had available, and "convinced" me to meet him in Europe. Since it was our 3 year dating anniversary, I thought it would be special to celebrate with a trip and was able to manage my schedule to be away for a few days. We settled on going to Bremen to spend time with friends and then I suggested going to Paris since it's one of my favorite places and one place Patrick had not been to yet. After a great time in Germany, and even partaking in Oktoberfest, we headed to France. Patrick had booked the cutest boutique hotel that I was so excited about. With my crazy photo needs, I had already booked a session with a local photographer so that made it convenient for Patrick to pop the question while being documented. I was so shocked at the end of the shoot when he said he had an idea for a pose! We were at a little French cafe, when he got down on one knee and said a lot of sweet things I don't remember. Even though I kept saying NO the entire time, he could see in my face that I really meant YES.