I’m sure it’s a surprise to precisely no one that we’ve had to postpone our wedding. We did manage to get out in front of it by making the decision early last week, which has luckily meant that it’s been possible to transfer pretty much all our suppliers over to our new 2021 date.
We have also decided, hopeless romantics that we are, that we want to get married as soon as possible, just in a registry office (as soon as they open again).
This has been a readjustment, but I’m pleased that we made the call so early, although sad that I won’t get to spend an awesome day with all my family and friends this year. So, to cheer myself up, I decided to share the story of our proposal!
It happened almost 18 months ago now, on 19th October 2018 – the day before my birthday. I’ve never been the sort of girl to shy away from conversations, so Tim knew I wanted to marry him. But somehow he still managed to make it a COMPLETE surprise.
Parents and Taxi Rides
I’d told him I’d wanted him to ask my parents’ permission beforehand (mostly because I knew they’d love it) so he snuck down to Peterborough to meet them for dinner the Tuesday before the proposal, when I was out with a friend in Sheffield. The dinner went great, they said yes (my mum cried) and he hopped on a train back north, with over an hour contingency time.
Then drama ensued when he needed to change in York – the train didn’t seem to be materialising and the expected departure time was ticking on and on. Eventually with only 40 minutes before my train was due back, he dove into a taxi and made the 48 minute journey (according to Google Maps) in record time.
Back at the flat, he stashed the ring (which he’d picked up from being resized earlier that day) and arranged the laptop and some dirty plates so he could feasibly pretend to have been in the flat all evening. Then it was back out into the waiting taxi to head to meet me at the station. He arrived at the barriers about 20 seconds before I came through them.
I noticed nothing, not even the plates.
Prep and Besties
He’d already decided to pop the question at Escape Hunt after they impressed us with Our Finest Hour escape room. The original plan was to do it in the Fourth Samurai room, but when our escaping team Loct In (me and Tim, plus our besties Ellie and Callum) decided to go on a whim, that plan fell through. Instead, he turned his sights to Blackbeard’s Treasure.
Once he had the ring, he called up Callum to meet for lunch.
He knew that I wanted photographic evidence and he figured the only way that would happen was by enlisting a friend or two. He told Callum that he could bring Ellie on board (but maybe leave it a bit later so she didn’t feel tempted to let slip).
Then I went and threw a spanner in the works.
Best Laid Plans
So everything was sorted for Friday night – not that I knew it yet. Later in the week, the boys would crash mine and Ellie’s plans for drinks with a suggestion we couldn’t escape from.
But then I was contacted through Twitter to try a new escape room… which I immediately suggested for Friday!
Tim panicked, and tried hacking into my Facebook and email to track down the culprits, all the while messaging Callum to “suddenly not be free”. Unfortunately the company had messaged me on Twitter, so he had to resort to casually asking me their name.
“NH Events… oh, I should message them!”
Tim made a quick swerve into the loo and frantically messaged them on Facebook.
“This might be the weirdest request you’ve ever had. You’ve offered a comped escape room to a blogger called Becky Ladley. Please please be unavailable this week.”
“You’re right, that is weird… why?”
“Well… hopefully by the end of Friday she will be my fiancee…”
Luckily they went along with the plan and were mysteriously unavailable on Friday. (Don’t worry, we booked their room in for the next week instead.)
Relaid Plans
Callum was now mysteriously AVAILABLE and in a serious escaping mood.
“I LOVE ESCAPE ROOMS,” he messaged the group chat. “Escape Hunt have a gap at 7:15pm, let’s book it!”
Before I knew what had happened, we were booked on. I commented to MULTIPLE PEOPLE that I had no idea that Callum was such an escape room nut, and that he might be more into them than me.
Of course, it was Tim pulling the strings behind the scene all along…
Last Minute Madness
Having dropped off a bottle of prosecco and the all-important ring on his way home, Tim came back and played it cool. He suggested my favourite of his shirts for him to wear that evening… and I told him it was much too smart and made him change into a less fancy one instead.
We headed out and across town. But when we reached the end of the street, I realised something was missing – my phone! I should have smelled a rat when Tim said immediately he’d go back and grab it, but instead I smiled and agreed to meet him there.
The Room
I intended on doing a review of that room on the blog, but honestly, all thoughts of the room were driven out of my head by the rest of the evening!
I do remember it being quite an enjoyable room, and continued Escape Hunt’s immaculate set design that we enjoyed from Our Finest Hour and The Fourth Samurai. There were one or two puzzles we struggled with, which sent Tim into tailspins of panic. Logically he knew that the GM was in on it and there was no way she’d let us run out of time, but every puzzle we were stumped for more than a moment made him more and more anxious.
Finally, we made it into the final part of the room, and the rest of them spotted the chest that contained my ring. For a moment I considered getting Ellie to open the chest up – she’d totally been our MVP for that room – but, luckily for the plan, I dismissed the idea and reached forward with the key. I was so engrossed getting the chest open that I didn’t see Ellie and Callum get their phones out and Tim drop to one knee.
If you’ve read Ten Things That Went Through My Mind When Tim Proposed To Me, you’ll know the rest of the story. I saw the ring, was confused, wondered if it was another puzzle, turned around to see Tim down on one knee and two cameras staring at me. I asked “are you serious?” – apparently a very common thing to say when you’re proposed to! Tim said some very lovely things, none of which I remember.
And I checked if the timer was still running before I said yes. It was not, and we got out in 39:01 – proof that Tim had no reason at all to be panicking!
Aftermath
We headed out to Escape Hunt’s private function room and popped that prosecco! Our games master, Emily, showed us the recording she made on her phone (which sadly, for privacy reasons, we weren’t allowed a copy of) and gave us a lovely card from the team of GMs.
We snuck back into Blackbeard’s Treasure for a few photos:
And then Ellie and Callum left us to calling around ALL our friends and family – well, as many as we could get on the phone. There was a brief delay speaking to Tim’s grandparents while we waited for “the ‘Boro game to finish”. And my friend Katherine was surprised to receive a phone call out of the blue given she was on her honeymoon in America! But we rang around everyone, finished our bottle of prosecco, and went to join Ellie and Callum for a few more celebratory drinks!
Countdown to the Wedding
We went from 7 weeks to go to 59 weeks to go. And, give or take a few suppliers, we’re about as organised as you’d expect someone to be 7 weeks before their wedding. It’s a weird feeling.
I don’t know how soon I’ll get to say “I do” to Tim, but I hope it’s not long at all. I really can’t wait to be married to him <3