As Mary-Allison's trip to England grew closer, I knew that I wanted to make her first trip across the pond something she would never forget. I wanted to be with her every day after spending the whole summer with her (and if you really know Mae, I knew I could handle that sass) haha. It took me about three weeks to pluck up the courage to call her Dad and ask for his blessing. Check. The Ring, Check. A Trip? Check. A Surprise. Absolutely Check. Mae safely landed at Heathrow and after all the months apart, countless texts and calls, we were back together. I had told Mae that we were going into London for a few nights and she bugged me for weeks wanting to know where we were going and what we were doing. I sent a few cryptic clues, but I wanted it to be special, so the surprise was worth it. We stayed at the Royal London Yacht Hotel on the River Thames for two nights and it was incredible. Dinner on the back of the yacht overlooking the city at night, picture-perfect. As her own personal tour guide, we visited lots of famous landmarks and took some selfies. Now for the surprise. After two days, it was time to move to the next hotel which I said was a train ride across the city. We sat on the train for just over an hour and I was buzzing. I hate keeping secrets, and this was a big one. We got off the train, suitcases in hand and started walking. Mae is looking at me with a slightly puzzled look. We were at the airport! "Where are we going," she said. "Wait and see". We walked into the airport and got in the line. "Fancy going to Paris then?". Both full of excitement, we landed in Paris.

Arriving at our hotel, Mae was very impressed with my fluent french (probably why she said yes). We spent the next day walking around Paris, I think we did a total of 7 or 8 miles. I was beginning to get nervous. It was our last day of the trip. 'Today was the day' i kept telling myself. We got ready to go out exploring in Paris, so I could find the perfect spot to pop the question. We set off on foot once again, but this time, I had the ring with me. I had it in my shorts pocket, which wasn't the largest of pockets, and started to become very uncomfortable haha. After a couple of hours, and after seeing a wedding photoshoot we found ourselves in the gardens surrounding the Eiffel Tower (this couldn't get more cliche could it?). So, this is the part where I started wandering aimlessly. Mae says to me, "Shall we just sit down somewhere?". "Yeah in a minute". An hour later and we were still walking. We walked into one of the gardens, I thought this was the perfect moment, until I look to my left. Three homeless guys, very intoxicated, beer cans all over the grass. We kept walking. I could tell Mae is getting restless and is probably tired, but I was determined to find the perfect spot. We cross over the grass into the gardens on the opposite side. Flowers, Trees and a little bit of privacy, perfect. But no, I look to my right and there's a man standing next to a water tap. He is wearing nothing but his underwear and is having a wash, haha, I couldn't believe it! We walked back to the grass in front of the tower and we sat down. This was it. I composed myself and went to stand up. All of a sudden, the largest bike tour of Paris rolls in (there must have been 50 people on bikes) and stops right next to us. Once they finally moved on it was finally the perfect moment, in front of the tower. She said yes (very quickly) and now I can't wait to watch her walk down the aisle to me. She will be the perfect bride. - Alex