How We Met
Brett and I met almost three years ago and had an instant connection. I was living in a small town on the edge of Philadelphia, and we had plans for him to pick me up for our first date on my quiet street at the top of the hill. Walking up to my house, he saw me standing on the porch, and asked “Alison”? It’s a small moment, but ever since the first time he said my name, I’ve known that he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The location of that first date was my choice, and I took him to a bar that had an IPA I thought he’d like. Little did I know, we’d end up, very appropriately, singing Wagon Wheel in karaoke. :) The rest is history.
how they asked
I’m convinced that there is no better planner in the world than my fiancé. I was convinced that we were going to dinner with his boss and coworker at a nice steakhouse, so I dressed up (and thankfully got my nails done!) for the occasion. I had no idea that we were going to the place he’d propose until the day before, when he told me he’d gotten two tickets as a Christmas stocking stuffer from his parents. I didn’t think much of it when he did bring it up, because he kept giving me details/talking points for his boss and coworkers – I figured that this was genuinely just a nice thing to do right before dinner.
We had gone to brunch earlier that day, and I noticed that he had been cleaning our apartment a lot and acting a little bit weird when we got back, but I thought nothing of it. We got in an Uber to go to Center City, and Ed Sheeran’s Perfect came on in the car (which has been a very special song for us over the past month or so). Neither of us said anything – we were just holding hands, watching the city around us silently as the sun got lower and lower in the sky. The song ended right as we were getting out of the car, and that’s when I started to get shaky as I realized where we were going and what a beautiful view it would be. Had he paid the Uber driver to play this?! Nope, definitely just the radio.
We took an elevator to the observation deck of One Liberty Place, which has an absolutely gorgeous 360 degree view of Philadelphia. We took in the sun setting behind all of the skyscrapers that made up the skyline that we love so dearly, and walked around to the side of the building that faces the Ben Franklin bridge – another thing that is very special to us. Suddenly, Brett started talking about how many memories we’d made looking out over that bridge, and that we should make another one. He pulled the ring out of his pocket, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! It was easily the best moment of my life.
Afterward, we DID go to dinner at that steakhouse, and celebrated with champagne. I wanted to continue the celebration, so Brett suggested going for drinks at the Ritz-Carlton nearby. When we arrived, family and friends were already there with a sign, chocolate covered strawberries, balloons, and more champagne! Our parents even arranged for us to stay overnight in a room overlooking City Hall! (My parents ended up staying at our apartment to take care of our dog, which explained Brett’s weird cleaning earlier!). The whole day was absolutely magical.
It could not have been more incredible, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with the amazing man who planned the whole thing.
