The Proposal
March 6, 2019
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens • Miami, Florida
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A Few Months Prior …
By this point, I want to say Deion had been overseas for around four or five months. Up until then, I was the main one who would always bring up marriage whether it was sending him pictures of rings that I liked or sending him links to future potential venues. It was never done in such a fashion where it would seem as though I was pressuring him, because it honestly was not that serious. I mean, we’re still young, still doing long distance … so I wasn’t rushing it per se, I was just excited for when that day would finally come so I couldn’t help but share that with him. Anyway, around this time of Deion’s deployment was when we hit a significant milestone in our relationship (in my opinion) because it was the first time we actually talked of having the ring made. He began looking for the perfect center stone and reached out to a few jewelers, I guess regarding whether they were capable of making the ring he had his sights on. Fast forward to the end of his deployment, he brings up having a professional photo session to celebrate our six year anniversary, and of course I’m immediately on board. Once he got down to Miami, he got everything set up with the photographer, so from there I handled the attire. Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until the last minute, but that’s an entirely new story for another day.
THE PROPOSAL ❤️
The proposal was an absolute dream. I’ve always said that when this time came, I wanted it to somehow be recorded. Then I got to the point where it wasn’t really a big deal if it was recorded, I ultimately just wanted it to be a surprise. Now that it’s finally happened, words honestly can’t describe how grateful I am that our photographer was able to capture the moment (and that her husband was recording it all). When we first got to Vizcaya, the proposal wasn’t the first thing that went down. We took a few photos in front of one of the gardens and also in front of the museum itself. I’d say that was within the first 20 minutes or so, then we moved on to this little dome-like area that was right beside the water. Once we arrived, Olga (the photographer), instructed me to face away from Deion, then he would come up behind me and whisper what his favorite vegetable is into my ear. She’s all about capturing natural reactions versus telling her clients to just smile and pose, so with him whispering something so random in my ear I most definitely would have started laughing. So as I’m waiting for him to come up behind me, I hear him say my name. I turn around and there he was on one knee. It took me a few seconds to realize what was going on, and then when he asked “Will you marry me?” I just lost it. It’s like time stood still, and even though the photographer and a crowd of people were there, it felt like him and I were the only ones there. It’s kind of funny because I was so filled with emotion that I never actually said yes. If I’m not mistaken, the first thing that came out of my mouth was this laugh of just pure and utter joy. The “biggest high of my life” that I was referring to in my latest lifestyle post was this, because I had never felt so much happiness until this moment. And over a month later I still feel it. I don’t think anything will bring me this much joy until our wedding day. It was one night a few days after the proposal that we were just laying in the bed of our Airbnb. I had my head on his chest and tears were just running down my face because the happiness I felt was almost overwhelming. Like I really get to spend the rest of my life with a man that is far beyond anything that I could have ever dreamed of. I’m on cloud 100 … and that’s something I hope that everyone gets to experience at some point in their life.
So … did I know?
I’ve gotten questions asking if I knew it was going to happen, and I’ll admit I definitely had suspicions. But I mean, its also been plenty of other occasions in the last few years where I thought he was going to pop the question, and he didn’t, so I basically talked myself out of it. It was our anniversary so I really didn’t want to start it off being disappointed, you know? What I did know is that it was going to happen this year; he basically told me he needed to save up more money so that the jeweler could begin making the ring, so toward the end of the year is most likely when I should be expecting it. Plus, days before the proposal he even suggested that we go and look at rings … so why would he do that if he already had a ring? Major props to him because he threw me off really good. As we were walking to meet the photographer, my last bit of hope told me to check out his pockets to see if I could see a box, and there was nothing there (at least that I could see) so I felt like that was my confirmation. Little did I know he had that slender red box with the most perfect ring in it. Literally everything was perfect.
Also, y’all can check out our complete gallery with all of the photos from that day below! And if you’re in the Miami area and you’re looking for a photographer for an engagement shoot, maternity shoot, or anything of that nature, check out Olga at Blush Bouquet Photography. As you can see she did an amazing job with our photos!
