I'm Engaged!

I am very pleased to announce that my boyfriend and I, are engaged!

For those of you who don’t know, February is a very special month, not only because it contains my birthday, but this year is also a leap year! But what is a leap year? A leap year is also known as a bissextile year and falls once every four years. Usually there are 28 days in February, however in a leap year there are 29 balancing out the lunisolar calendar.

Legend has it that during the 5^th Century St Bridget complained that females had to wait too long for their suiters to propose, so St Patrick then gave the women a chance to propose every four years, on the 29^th of February. Although, this theory was never proven. It was in 19^th Century when Queen Margaret of Scotland allegedly passed a law, which allowed women to propose to men – better still, the men were handed a fine if they didn’t accept!

In this day and age it’s becoming less unusual for women to propose. 15% of women said they would consider popping the question to their boyfriend and only 10% of ladies actually do! And I’m proud to say that I am one of them!

After getting the inkling that Ryan (my fiancé) was planning on proposing, I decided to take matters into my own hands. He had mentioned the idea of getting engaged more than usual in the last couple of months, and slowly but surely I put two and two together and figured it out.

I am one of those people who hate surprises... I can’t stand them! The thought of not being in control of a situation and having that horrible feeling in your belly not knowing to expect terrifies me. So what better way to take advantage of the leap year and beat him to it! After speaking to all my close friends and family about it, operation ‘put a ring on it’ was ago go.  

Both our parents were totally ecstatic and they’ve always said we’re like ‘bangers and mash’. Everyone was itching to tell him. Ryan isn’t usually the one to wear any kind of ring, so I intended on getting him a fancy watch to pop the question with, however, a watch didn’t shout engagement to me. After looking through plenty of websites I decided to get a ring, simple and classic. It was perfect. (It looks great and he wears it with pride).

Next was how to do it? I knew if I did it just the two of us he wouldn’t believe me.  He would say “Oh Grace, stop being silly.” He knew I wouldn’t usually have the balls to do something like this. We also watched a program a couple of weeks before I intended on proposing and the female proposed to the male. His reaction? “You know if you ever proposed to me I would say no right? It’s just a gentleman’s duty to ask for the hand in marriage”. Oh shit. No pressure then. Little did I know that while I was planning everything, so was he. He had even driven round to my family home and asked my dad for permission!

I designed a cake that read ‘Will you marry me, my Koala’ on it. Mainly because I thought I would be too nervous to get the words out myself. We had booked a restaurant in my local town. His parents, my parents and my siblings were invited. He thought we were celebrating my 20^th birthday, and everyone went along with it. When in reality everyone knew I was going to propose. As you can tell by the blog title he said yes! His face was hilarious, “I was going to propose! I even asked your dad for permission!” Bless him.

So I am currently wearing his mum’s diamond engagement ring until my bespoke ring comes. I couldn’t be happier. We have always been a wild and fun couple and getting engaged this way just adds to our crazy relationship. Ryan still plans on proposing, his way, with the ring he’s designed; and I can’t wait! It just means I get to experience the excitement of getting engaged all over again!

To everyone asking me when the wedding is… Not for a while. We want to wait until I’m out of university and are comfortably living together before we even think about any wedding plans. This engagement is a stepping-stone in our relationship. It’s a sign of commitment, and that neither one of us are going anywhere. We just want to spend the rest of our lives together. This doesn’t mean we intend on getting married tomorrow.

NOR AM I PREGNANT! A friend of mine asked if I was expecting just because I was engaged! I feel as though this is something I have to touch on. Why people think getting engaged young automatically means you’re pregnant baffles me. Why can’t two young people just get engaged because they love each other? Ryan and I have been together 2 years and felt it was right to take the next step in our relationship!

The amount of times I’ve heard “You’re engaged? But you’re only twenty!” Who cares? Back in the day our grandparents would be engaged and married by 18 and nobody battered an eyelid. When couples have babies after knowing each other 6 months it’s all “Congratulations! I’m so excited for you!” But when a young couple get engaged it’s all “Are you sure? It’s a big commitment” and “Getting engaged young is like leaving the party early.”

I would rather ‘leave the party early’ with the man I love. I’m not missing out on anything, I just have somebody to experience the rest of my life with! I’m incredibly blessed to have found the man of my dreams at such a young age and I can’t wait to explore the world, and go on adventures with him. My family and close friends are so excited and have been so supportive, and I’m so grateful to have you all in my life. To the small minded people out there, who are talking about my life as if they know me… do yourself a favour and find something else to talk about.

I’m incredibly happy and fortunate in my life right now. Thank you for all the kind messages, words can’t describe how blessed I feel.

Lots of love and thank you for reading!
AlexGrace

Photo: Ryan's engagement ring. 

Photo: Mum (left) Mum in law to be (Right) enjoying the strawberries. 

Photo: My fiancé and I enjoying a smooch. 

Photo: When he had just said yes.

Photo: The cake I proposed with.