A Mexican proposal – one year on

A cocktail to celebrate our engagement

A year ago today was when I went from being a girlfriend to a fiancée. And in 6 months from today I’ll take the even bigger leap of going from fiancée to wife. This year has absolutely flown by. We’ve bought our first house together, started planning a wedding and put in place plans for a long happy future. I can’t quite believe that in 6 months I’ll be having my makeup done and getting ready to walk down the aisle to Lee, I know that day is going to be here in no time now. Today though I thought I’d share our proposal story, I just wish I could relive the moment my life changed in the best way possible.

Fast forward to September 27th, the second full day of our holiday. We got up in the morning and headed into Xcaret where we decided to go for our first swim in one of the underground rivers. There are 3 routes to choose from and we picked the one that began with a waterfall. Considering how hot the air temperature was the water felt freezing, we soon got used to it though and we floated happily through the rivers. If you’re going to Mexico I would highly recommend spending a day or two in Xcaret. There is so much to do and the underground rivers alone are a magical, calming yet exhilarating experience.

When you reach the end of the river route you exit the water, collect your bag (they transport your belongings in locked bags to the river exit for you) and you’re looking out at a stunning view of the crystal clear water. As we walked along, the stunning scenery took my breath away and I commented to Lee that we should go back one evening and watch the sunset from this spot as it was so beautiful.

That afternoon Lee was keen to leave the beach, get ready and head over to Xcaret to watch the sunset like I’d suggested. We strolled over with plenty of time and had a leisurely walk through the park back to where we’d been earlier in the day. We started to take some great pictures of the view and of us together and then we realised that the sun was going to set around the other side of the island and we weren’t going to get a good view. I wasn’t too worried as I knew we’d see other Mexican sunsets but Lee seemed a bit disappointed.

We carried on walking around the park and found the dolphin nursery, lots of happy dolphins splashing and jumping around and we were the only 2 people there to see them. The weather was still beautiful and we sat together for a little while. Then some other people found our quiet spot and joined us, but I mean literally sat on our laps. There was so much space but they sat right next to us and starting snapping photos by leaning across us to get better shots. We soon moved on.

As we started to head back towards the hotel we heard the waterfall that we’d seen earlier in the day. The park was now practically empty and we were the only people looking down on the entrance to the river we’d swum in that morning. Lee got out his camera and we took a few photos. I was looking out over the waterfall and admiring the beautiful view. Then I heard Lee say my name, I turned around and he was down on one knee telling me how much he loved me and that he wanted to make me his wife. He took my hand and gave me the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. I actually cannot describe the feeling I had in that moment, love, excitement, happiness – none of those words seem to capture the intense emotions I was feeling. In those few moments Lee had made me the happiest girl in the world. I of course said yes and went from a girlfriend to a fiancé. It feels like the next few hours passed in a blur, I know I cried, I felt complete shock and happiness and I called my mum and dad and woke them up (it was about 1am UK time).

Excuse the blurry photo, I think we were both shaking with excitement!

Seconds after Lee proposed

Calling mum and dad to tell them the exciting news (they’d already seen the rain when Lee asked their permission)

As we walked back to the hotel to have a celebratory drink Lee told me about how he thought he was going to have to wait until another day to propose as every time he’d been about to do it someone or something had got in the way. We’d walked past the waterfall by pure luck and he’d known straight away that’s where he’d wanted to ask me.

He also told me how I’d nearly seen the ring twice on our journey to Mexico. Initially at Gatwick when his carry-on case was searched and the security guard had shown us an X-ray image of the mass of wires inside the bag. Apparently the ring had been visible to Lee on the scan but I was totally oblivious. And secondly when we arrived in Mexico the carry on was searched again before we left the airport. This time however I had this case as Lee was being a gentleman and pushing the 2 large cases. The security guard apparently checked literally every pocket apart from the one containing the ring, I wonder if she’d seen it and didn’t want to spoil the surprise? Lee said he had visions of getting down on one knee at Cancun airport! It also makes sense now why he was adamant that the carry-on needed a lock even though I said not to worry.

Celebrating the Mexican way!

Returning to the spot where we got engaged a few days later

So there’s our story, I cannot believe it’s a whole year old already. How did your other half propose, or perhaps you were the one proposing – either way tell me all about it in the comments below.

I love a good proposal story and hope you’ve enjoyed reading ours!
Dawn