Emily’s Proposal Story
I’m in the middle of planning for my upcoming wedding in September! I was just thinking back to that wonderful evening when my best friend and true love proposed to me and since it involved a fantastic culinary experience, I thought I’d share it with all of you!
On October 15, 2015, on my now fiancé’s birthday, he proposed to me at Fearings in the The Ritz Carlton here in Dallas. Chris is definitely big on surprises and I was shocked that he asked me on his birthday! As a planner and lover of all things celebratory, I was excited to be the one planning his birthday party. I asked him if he would like me to invite all of our friends out to dinner, or go on a weekend getaway or spend time with our families and he replied that he’d like it to be relaxed and just to the two of us going to a nice dinner. I asked where he wanted to go and he asked me to make reservations at Fearings here in Dallas. {Confession, I can be a bit of a procrastinator, and I waited a few weeks to make the reservation.} Little did I know that he had already been planning our proposal with both The Ritz Carlton and the amazing staff at Fearings!
On the day, Chris was definitely excited, but I thought it was because it was his birthday, so nothing out of the ordinary. When we got to Fearings the nice ladies at the front desk wished Chris a Happy Birthday and told us that they had a special table outside in the courtyard waiting for us. When we got outside we were the only ones seated out there, so I thought maybe something could be up, but then after we put our wine and appetizer orders in other people started to be seated outside, as well. Silly me…
{What we ordered}
Wine: Champagne toast to start and then a bottle of Amici Cabernet Sauvignon (Delish!) Of course Amici is now one of our favorites!
Food: A ‘Bar N Ranch’ Wagyu Beef Filet and Chicken Fried Maine Lobster on ‘Loaded’ Whipped Potatoes and Soft Spinach Taco with Smoked Tomato Gravy (Decadent!)
After our entrees our waiter asked if we would like dessert. Since Chris knows I love taking pictures and documenting the moment he suggested we take our ‘birthday’ picture by the fountain since we’d feel too full after dessert (made sense to me). When the waitress came back I handed her my camera and asked if she could take a picture of us before we ate dessert and got too full. As I started getting ready to pose for the picture, Chris drops down on bended knee and proposes! I can hardly remember what he said I was so surprised and excited! Next thing I know a photographer, Carrie from Charming Fox Photography , is taking pictures of our beautiful proposal! Seriously y’all she is awesome! Chris’s best friend Rob also had Carrie take his proposal pictures, which are stunning, so she already came highly recommended!
Next, we walked back to our table and there was champagne waiting for us and the manager came out and presented us with a beautiful present from Fearings Restaurant! Then legendary Texas Chef Dean Fearing himself walked out to congratulate us! AMAZING! We had met Chef Fearing one year earlier almost to the day at a downtown Dallas BBQ festival where we chatted, took pictures with him, and of course, purchased The Texas Food Bible which he signed for us! My Dad is also a big fan 🙂
Then we were able to talk with our wonderful photographer Carrie and she told us that she’d meet us over at The Alcove.
The Alcove?! Chris had made plans for us to meet our family and friends at our favorite little date night spot in the State Thomas neighborhood – The Alcove Wine & Beer bar. When we got there we walked in and everyone was cheering and toasting! It was incredible to share such a special moment with the people who are closest to us. Next, Chris told me that we were going to be going back to The Ritz to spend the night there! Also, Chris wasn’t the only one passing out surprises that night. As we checked in, we were told that we had been upgraded to the hospitality suite!!!
The next morning Chris’s mom and Aunt Vicky came over to have breakfast with us and also brought my sweet pug Coco too. Yes, The Ritz is dog friendly (love!) We relaxed by the pool in total bliss!
A heartfelt thank you to Fearings, The Ritz Carlton Dallas, Charming Fox Photography & The Alcove for helping to make this proposal so very special and memorable ….And the best is yet to come!
Cheers!
Emily