Most people say that fairy tales don’t really happen.
That the heroic stories of princesses falling out of trees onto the white horse of their prince will forever remain alive only in the animated world.
My experience of the past week however, tells a different story.
If you read here, you will meet two of my closest friends,
Sophia Christine Van Geloof
And
Nicholas Robert Sykes
The first is a ridiculously romantic, and the second a fantastic dreamer.
And so, when Nick decided that he wanted to marry Sophie, he could do it in a way that is no less than extravagant. Considering the fact that they are currently studying in London, and he was taking he to Prague for the weekend as a birthday present, the stage was set for an incredible story.
Which is where my story gets to join in on theirs.
Nick knew that Sophie would want her family around when he would propose, so after countless late nights on the phone and emailing her dad Arty, his dad Kip, a fireworks guy in Prague, and myself, the stage was set for her family (Dad, Mom, Sister) along with myself to fly out and be there when he proposed. His dad and step mom were visiting them in London prior to the weekend, so they would meet us there as well!
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Time: 20:30 (Otherwise known as 8:30 PM)
Location: Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic
After leaving LAX Thursday night, we arrived in Heathrow for an 8 ½ hour layover on Friday, to arrive in Prague by midnight that night. We awoke the next morning to scope out the spot where the events would take place.
From the first view outside of our hotel, the city literally my breath away with its cold and its beauty. Prague is the one place in Europe that was not destroyed during WWII – every building appeared to tell a story. With autumn leaves decorating the streets, there is no doubt that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
We ventured through the metro and by foot to finally arrive at Charles Bride around 3 P.M. With the proposal set for 8:30 that night we had plenty of time to walk around and plan out where we could be to hide in the shadows so that we could see when he would propose.
As far as Sophie knew, the plans for the day included going to a Ballet at the Theatre, walking to Kampa Park for a beautiful dinner, and going back to her room in the hotel to watch Harry Potter and order room service ice cream.
The ballet ended early, and rather than walk to the bridge that they were supposed to walk on, Sophie insisted on walking down to Charles Bridge as the most direct way to get to the restaurant by their 6:30 reservation.
Here, a close escape was avoided by quick thinking on Nick’s part, when we nearly ran into them on the bridge that was filled with tourists, artisans, musicians and merchants.
They walked on to the restaurant… and we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And spied on them using binoculars (the restaurant was visible from the bridge)
And waited.
And finally the moment came.
We were in pretty frequent communication with Nick via text messaging as to where they were and what was going on, and around 9:00 PM, we finally saw their faces emerge from the crowd on the bridge as they walked to “the spot.”
Nick had every detail planned to perfection, but Sophie wanted to get a picture of the other side of the bridge, where there was a beautiful view of the Prague Castle.
As we waited and watched, they took pictures and talked, and he reached to hold her hand…
And her face melted.
They had joked in the past about how her favorite thing to do is hold his hand, and all he needed to do to propose was to slip the ring box into her hand and she would know what was happening.
Which was what had just happened.
They talked more, and he got down on his knee...
She cried and smiled, (said yes) and they kissed.
By this time, the families and I were bursting to run up and hug her (we had seen them in two months!), but we held back.
As he stood up, Nick’s dad called the fireworks guy who had set up a two minute show on the other side of the bridge.
As they started going off, Nick pulled her over and told her “These are for you.”
They turned to watch, and we ran to sneak up behind them.
The anticipation was so intense, Allie and I were literally jumping up and down waiting for her to know we were there!
As the show ended with a heart exploding in the sky, Nick turned to her and said,
“I have one more surprise for you.”
“What else could there possibly be?” She asked…
and she turned around…
There aren’t lots of pictures from this moment, but in the words of Allie, “It was probably the happiest moment of my life.”
We all hugged and cried, and laughed and took thousands of pictures.
They are now engaged, and the proposal of a lifetime has been written in their history.
We spent the next two days together in Prague, and went back to London to visit their school on Monday Night. We explored London on Tuesday (from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and St. James Park) ended by a “London shower” which sent us to our hotel to watch Harry Potter and enjoy room service.
The “see you laters” at the airport the next day were difficult, but the memories made were worth far more than words can describe.
I hope you have enjoyed the real life tale of an unbelievably perfect proposal.
I certainly have :)
