What began as their first trip to Europe ended with a surprise proposal in front of the Eiffel Tower following the wonderful news that Australia had legalized same-sex marriage. Read on for all the details of Peter and Daniel’s gorgeous Paris proposal.
HOW THEY MET
Daniel and I met through an online dating app and we were both looking for a long-term stable relationship. So, it was a perfect match for us! As we both worked relatively close to each other in the city in Adelaide, we arranged to meet over lunch on a Tuesday and subsequently, we continued having lunch for the rest of the week. And the rest, as they say, was history!
PLANNING THE PROPOSAL
We both have great passion for travelling. As we had never been to Europe, we decided to go for Daniel’s 40th birthday, which was the best excuse for a long trip away! We planned our trip one and a half years in advance and every itinerary was planned in great detail. We both had written down where we wanted to go and things we wanted to do in each of the cities we visited and I had the great pleasure and total enjoyment of getting everything perfect, and of course, keeping the surprise proposal a top secret.
We had never intended to have our proposal in Europe, even though it was suggested by many of our friends who knew that we were going. At the time of the planning, same-sex marriage was not legal in Australia so planning for a proposal wasn’t on our to do list as we wanted it to be legal before we did anything. Fortunately, toward the end of 2017, it became clear that Australia was going to legalize same-sex marriage, so the idea of planning a surprise proposal came to mind. We had already planned to hire a Flytographer for a photo shoot in Paris, so that became the perfect avenue for a surprise proposal.
THE PROPOSAL
On the day of the shoot, both Daniel and I were decked out in our suits and although it was supposed to rain, the rain stopped in the morning and it was cloudy and just a touch chilly. We stayed quite close to Trocadero, but had to take the metro. Everyone was staring at us as we were the only ones decked out in suits while everyone else was in their winter wear. As we were waiting for Kirill, our wonderful photographer, at the meeting point, I was getting very nervous, not because of the proposal, but rather that there were a lot of people and tourists in Trocadero already and I am definitely not used to public affection, much less a proposal!
After meeting with Kirill, we posed for a few photos and then he asked us to turn our backs to each other (which was my cue). While Daniel was facing away from me, I got down on one knee, took out the rings and as he turned back toward me — SURPRISE! Daniel was so surprised, but he thought the ring was just a prop and he kept asking me, “Is this for real? Is this a prop? Is this a set-up?” Eventually, he got the message and said YES! A couple who had been standing near us even came over to congratulate us! Kirill did an amazing job with the photos and really captured the moment of love between us.
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