OUR PROPOSAL STORY

If you follow me on social media, then you might have already seen the news – Neal and I are engaged! I feel so blessed for the seven years Neal and I have shared and now we have forever to go! We both felt such an overwhelming wave of love from everyone’s wishes and I don’t even know where to begin to thank all of you for your love and kindness. It was such a romantic, thoughtful, beautiful moment in my life and one of the questions I have been asked the most is “how did he propose!?” 

Our first leg of the Greece trip began in Santorini with our sweet friends, Anna (who photographs so much of the loveliness you see here on the blog) and her husband Kosta. Little did I know they were all in on the plot! We stayed at the beautiful Anteliz Suites from Monday August 24th and Friday the 28th was our last day. While we were in Greece, Anna and I were also working on a few shoots and one of the ideas she mentioned was to capture a gown on a rooftop on the final day before we jetted off to Mykonos. Santorini is known for the incredible sunsets and cascading rooftops of serene blue and white. Little did I know the whole week Neal was co-ordinating with a florist, a priest, the church owner, Anna, Kosta and the owner’s son Anthony of Anteliz Suites to create this perfect proposal. Neal needed the permission of a priest and the owner’s to allow him on a rooftop – and not many were willing to do this, but luckily Anthony was able to make it happen for us! We were told we were the first couple to get engaged on a church rooftop in Santorini, how cool is that!? Neal lured me on the roof with Anna, thinking we would be shooting for the blog, so him and Kosta left earlier in the evening saying they needed to go get permission and someone to unlock the gate to let us in. That’s when I started getting a little tickle of a feeling they were up to something. Anna stalled as long as she could with me, until finally she got the green light to walk me over (I’m totally oblivious at this point). We walked up Fira town in Santorini to a Catholic Church and Anna wanted to do some “test shots” at the bottom of the steps – her plot to then say she forgot her memory card and send me up to meet Neal. Anna turned to me and said “I’m so sorry, I forgot my memory card, go meet Neal upstairs and I’ll be right there!” – little did I know when I walked up the roof, she was bee-lining for the hill behind the church to capture the whole proposal discreetly. How sweet of a friend is that!? As I walked up the stairs to meet Neal on the roof, I felt total peace and knew in my heart this wasn’t going to be a regular Friday in Santorini. I turned the corner, and there Neal was in a suit standing with my favourite  flowers in his hand wearing the most ridiculously huge smile on his face. He said the sweetest words to me, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I felt God’s presence all over us in that moment. The first thing I did was say yes and then we just embraced for the longest time, holding one another. I didn’t see a ring, or the people peering over the balconies snapping photos of us, or even notice the gorgeous sunset yet. I felt like time stood still just for us and I will never forget that feeling in his arms. I’m still in awe of how lavish God is with His love. I’m so grateful to all of the people coming together just to make this moment special for us. The gift of marriage is something that is so important to us and I cannot wait for more sunsets and sunrises with my soon to be husband…

xo, SS

Photo Credit: Our amazing friend, I am so incredibly grateful for, © annawithlove photography

My dress (that never made it into a fashion post, haha!) – linked here. A very special dress now indeed!