Our engagement story — Sophie Cliff

Now that we have been engaged for four weeks (how the bloody hell did that happen?!?), I thought it was about time I told you all a bit about how it happened. It still feels weird writing about us being engaged. I think being proposed to is the most surreal thing that has ever happened to me, and I'm not sure it will quite feel real until we're married (or maybe it won't even feel real then???? Kind of like how I *know* I'm an adult, but my brain still thinks I'm 18).

But regardless of whether it feels real or not, I still have a ring on my finger and a wedding to plan (yikes!), which means I have an engagement story to share with you all.

And I might be a bit biased, but what a bloody great engagement story it is.

It happened on our first full night in New York - we had spent a really great day exploring Manhattan, eating a LOT of food at Madison Square Eats and generally revelling in the fact that we were back in our favourite place EVER.

Sam had casually suggested that we should maybe head into Williamsburg that evening, and as it's one of our fave areas of Brooklyn it seemed like a good idea to head across and see what was new.

We'd heard so many great things about the rooftop bar of the Wythe Hotel, but as we've only ever visited NYC together in the winter, the weather had never really been accommodating. So we agreed to head up to the bar, check out the sunset and find somewhere nearby for dinner afterwards. Little did I know what was really about to happen...

sunset williamsburg brooklyn wythe hotel rooftop bar

And I'm being completely honest when I say I literally had NO idea what was about to happen. I always thought I'd be able to guess when Sam was about to propose - I'm the organiser in our relationship and Sam really isn't a planner at heart (or so I thought), so I always asummed I'd be able to sense that he was up to something, but I was totally and utterly taken by surprise.

But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. After a (longer than expected) walk to the bar (with around 75638 complaints of sore feet from me - my bad) we grabbed some drinks and stood and marvelled at the view for a little while. If you're ever over Williamsburg way, I would absolutely recommend heading up to the roof terrace for a drink - the whole of Manhattan is sprawled out in front of you and it really is quite breathtaking.

We took a couple of photos and then found a quiet area to sit at to enjoy our drinks and give my feet a little rest. We sat and chatted, talking about what a fabulous holiday we were having and the next thing I know, Sam was saying lots of lovely, lovely things and was down on one knee with a ring box in his hands. Needless to say I cried (a lot) and it took me more than a few minutes to actually say yes!

It was such a perfect moment - it felt really private as everybody was gathered around the other side of the terrace and it was so nice to just have those few minutes afterwards to talk and take it all in and have lots of excited hugs.

I was so shaky and surprised - it all felt so surreal. The time difference meant it was super late back home, so we decided to keep it to ourselves and phone our families at a more reasonable hour the next day, and it felt like we had this big exciting secret that only Sam and I knew about. We couldn't stop smiling - it's such a cliche, but my cheeks actually physically ached!

our engagement story brooklyn lager williamsburg hotel wythe rooftop bar sunset

Rather than the traditional bubbles, we opted for a Brooklyn Lager each to toast our engagement - it felt more fitting to drink something brewed just around the corner, rather than chug down champagne from the other side of the Atlantic. Those few moments we spent stood watching the sun disappear behind the Manhattan skyline with my new fiance at my side will forever be some of my favourite.

Because Sam is actually quite great at planning things (who knew?!) he had booked a table at the AMAZING Peter Luger Steak House, calling weeks in advance to make sure we could get a table (it's notoriously difficult to get a reservation). We celebrated with a gigantic porterhouse steak (seriously, it was bigger than my head - maybe even bigger than Sam's head) and delicious potatoes and creamed spinach and amazing wine - basically all of our favourite things.

peter luger steak house williamsburg brooklyn new york

The evening went by so fast, a blur of excited smiles and tummy flutters and fancy cocktails and a lot of staring at my gorgeous new ring (I'm going to save sharing this with you for another post - it's so beautiful that it definitely does deserve a post all of it's own).

It was all so perfect and so us. I can't really describe how I felt that night, but knowing all of the effort and thought that had gone behind Sam's planning still makes me grin with pride every time I think about it. It was such a special evening, and I am so pleased that we were able to get engaged in a place that not only means so much to us both, but where we have shared so many happy memories together.

Thank you SO MUCH to all of you lovely lot who have sent messages of congratulations and well wishes - you really are just the best!

And apologies that this has turned into such a long post - I selfishly wanted to capture all of the little details and moments so that I can reread this post and relive them in years to come. This blog is first and foremost my little diary space after all!