Life Update: We’re Engaged!!

Would you look at that. Who knew lol.

Last Saturday, April 2nd, Dane asked me to marry him. It wasn’t grand, there were no flash mobs, string quartet, or any of those bells and whistles. It was just us—private, sentimental, emotional—back to the place we first officially dated. I cried.

He took me to a fancy buffet in The Peninsula Manila so he can get me to dress up, something he confirmed later on.

Afterwards, he wanted dessert elsewhere despite desserts being served in the buffet. He didn’t want to say it at first, but when we got to Century City Mall entrance, I knew he would bring me to our first date location at Le Petit Souffle.

We walked around the mall to digest some of the food we ate, then later on headed to the restaurant. He wanted to sit in the same spot we sat in during our first date. And for some reason he wanted me to sit with my back facing the entrance and the staff. I initially thought he might have some gimmicks that would be spoilt if I see it coming, which I came to realize later on had no relevance lol.

Dane isn’t vocally expressive like most guys are. Yes, he has his moments but cheesy lines and sappy gestures aren’t his thing, aside from the occasional corny pick-up lines and sending me food or coffee on difficult days.

His speech wasn’t long, just three lines. But his eyes were filled with so much sincerity as he held my hand. And then he stood up from his chair, took a small box from his pocket, to which I asked, “What are you doing?”

Then he knelt on my side to ask the question, “Will you marry me?”

And my first instinct was to ask if he was joking. After all, it was just the day after April Fools’ Day.

“Of course, yes!”

I cried after the fact. I wasn’t sure why. But what I know is that I was happy.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have a photo of the actual proposal happening.

The staff at Le Petit Souffle saw what unfolded and sent us a congratulatory cake afterward. We took the chance to have our picture taken.

After the proposal, we just talked about what went into the planning for it and the hurdles he had to cross lol. He apparently asked for my hand from my mom in December and he wanted to propose back then but due to some circumstances, he wasn’t able to. That included the delay in shipment, and him thinking about how best to ask me. He also tried to book the full venue just to propose and even looked at other venues but didn’t get a reply from any of them. The place was empty though when he proposed so it kinda seemed like he reserved the place anyway. Ha!

Also, since the ring looked expensive, I had to ask. Which immediately resulted in me scolding him for spending so much on me. Something that I tell him regularly that he doesn’t have to, but something he does anyway and tells me to just stop stopping him. lol.

Right now, I’m just thankful he didn’t get anything tacky or too attention-grabbing hahaha. It’s a heart-shaped diamond atop a thin band. Simple, much like I am.

A part of me knew it was gonna happen. In fact, if it didn’t happen when it did, I’ll probably be pissed off with Dane. Lol. He’s not really a good liar, and in the months leading up to the proposal day, there were many hints that may or may not have been on purpose. Like him asking me to block off April 2nd because he wanted to take me out, or that he mentioned his order got delayed but didn’t want to discuss when I asked what it was.

The timing couldn’t get any more perfect, because the first date we had back in 2018 was a huge official turning point in our friendship. That place was part of our relationship when we moved from “is this gonna ruin our 10-year friendship” to “this actually can work.” (We’ve been friends for 14 years as of writing, a story for another time.)

I’m still on cloud 9. And I’m very much excited to spend my life with him.

PS. If any of you have hashtag ideas for our wedding or good supplier recos, I’m all ears!!