How He Asked : Our Love Story

The cat’s out of the bag and our hearts are full of love because we are getting married! Eóin proposed on March 22nd, 2021 and I responded with the only answer that made sense!

If you don’t know, my partner is not on social media & wants to keep it that way. Out of respect for him I cover his face in public photos.

In 2018, I decided to dip my toes back into the dating pool and my friends helped me create a profile on Tinder. I’d been on the app for about a month or two when I swiped right on this cute guy. I quickly got the notification that not only had we matched but that this man had ‘super liked’ me! After chatting for about a week we decided to meet up for a drink in downtown Seattle. Of course I sent his picture, name and phone number to my closest friends in case he was a murderer. Thankfully he wasn’t (yet), and what was supposed to be a quick drink turned into a 6-hour date. We wandered Seattle’s damp streets, talking about everything you’re not supposed to talk about on a first date. Everything was going great, until the end of the night and Eóin side-hugged me! I was convinced he wasn’t into me but I chalked it up to a great night & that I’d gained a new Irish friend in the city. Imagine my surprise when I received a message the next day saying how much he enjoyed our time together and that he wanted to take me out again. The rest is history :)

The last few years have been full of concerts, late nights wanders, family meetings, worldly travels, a lot of laughter and even more love.

We took the next big step and decided to move in together in February of 2019. A few weeks later, the world shut down and we were suddenly stuck together…ALL THE TIME! Thankfully, we both rose to the challenge and the time together did nothing but strengthen our relationship and the knowledge that we wanted to spend our lives together.

This past March Eóin and I headed to Texas for the long-awaited meeting of the friends. We had planned the trip prior to the pandemic but sadly had to cancel it when all hell broke loose. After spending an amazing week with my people, Eóin and I headed to Nashville for some much needed sunshine and R&R before heading back to gloomy Seattle. We decided to play most of the trip by ear, not making any concrete plans. The exception was Eóin said he planned a romantic outing for us at a botanical garden and then dinner after. This wasn’t unusual for us; most of the time when we take a trip somewhere Eóin plans a semi-surprise date night.

The gardens at Cheekwood were gorgeous! We toured the manor and walked through fields of tulips and roses, walked around ponds and trickling streams. It was a great day, and I had no idea it was going to get better. We were walking through the Japanese gardens and I could tell Eóin was getting kind of fussy. In particular he seemed unnecessarily frustrated at the family in front of us taking too long to shuffle on haha. I blamed it on the fact that it was a little warm out and he was probably getting hungry. When the family finally moved along, Eóin said he wanted to take in the garden views for a bit so we stood there for a moment just basking in it. Then, he said a bunch of romantic stuff that I won’t quote here because it was intimate and lovely and perfect. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Being an avid lover of Pride & Prejudice, I’d known for years what I wanted to say when I was proposed to. I was shocked that in the moment I somehow managed to remember (guess that theatre degree paid off finally), and I responded with “yes, yes, a thousand times yes”. We both cried and it was the most perfect moment that I never could have planned.

Well, planning a cross-continental wedding during a pandemic was definitely not what I had in mind when I imagine this haha. It’s been a crazy few months trying to plan and track everything but we are starting to finally make some headway. We’ve chosen our date and our venue is secured. I’ll be creating a few follow-up posts every couple of months that I’ll link here but in the meantime, if you’ve planned a destination wedding or been a pandemic bride I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Above all I want to say thank you.

Thank you to Eóin for asking me to be your wife, for choosing me to be your partner every day.

Thank you to our families who have supported us and showered us with love the last few years.

Thank you to everyone on social who have reached out to congratulate us on our engagement.

Eóin and I are so excited to take this next step together.