7/22/21 is now a date I’ll remember forever. I’m honestly still floating on cloud nine and reliving the night over and over again. It was the most perfect, magical evening, and I’m so excited to share our engagement story with you all.
Before I jump into the most meaningful night of my life, I want to share a bit of background on Jon and I. If you want a slightly more in-depth look at our past, head to this post I wrote a few years ago.
We met for the first time in 2013 after both swiping right on Tinder. At the time, Jon was a bomb tech in the army and I was training full time as an ice dancer. We were both very entrenched in our selected paths and not necessarily looking for something life-long. But when it’s good, you hang onto it.
At this point, we’ve been together for eight wonderful years. We’ve been through a deployment to Afghanistan, the abrupt end of my figure skating career (and the identity crisis that came with it), and moves to NYC and Amsterdam. Jon has been my rock through multiple career changes and job losses as an expat. We have been each other’s constant support as we navigate life abroad. And most recently, we’ve become dog parents to the adorable Jolene.
We’ve been through so much in the last eight years which is why I won’t lie and tell you the proposal was a total surprise. Jon and I had spoken about marriage on a number of occasions over the past few years. We both knew it was the natural next step, it was just a matter of when. And that when is what makes our engagement story so good.
Over Christmas 2020, Jon had let me know he was looking for a ring. He said his friends in New Jersey knew someone and were going to help him source it. Of course, I was so excited, but I also recognized with covid it could be a while before we were back in the US. We ended up making it back in May of this year.
Jon met up with his friend Matt one night while we were in town, and I didn’t join. I was SURE that was when he picked up the ring. Little did I know that he had already picked it up while we were visiting Matt’s family the previous day. Jon did an amazing job of acting natural and cool when we flew back from the states. I didn’t notice anything different, but he says he was panicking as we went through security because it was in his carry-on.
I really expected our engagement story to take place in Ibiza or Greece. Ibiza was our first trip of 2021, and one of the few trips we had planned for just the two of us. I didn’t want to jinx it but wanted to be prepared just in case, so I was doing all the facials and manicures before we left. As soon as we landed in Ibiza I texted my girlfriend, Mercedes, and told her this wasn’t it. I just had a gut feeling it wasn’t the moment.
Last weekend, I went to Champagne and Paris with Mercedes for a girls’ trip. The boys had all gotten together to take the boat out with Jolene and were sending us pictures. While Mercedes and I were out to dinner with a friend, Jon texted me that he had booked the Dam Boat Guys, a super affordable boat company, for Thursday since the weather had been nice and Jolene was now comfortable being on a boat. I stopped the dinner and told the girls this could be it. But at the same time, I wondered if maybe he was just inspired by the weekend with the guys. We HAD been talking about doing a boat with Dam Boat Guys one of these nice days.
When Thursday rolled around, the boat was fairly far from my mind. Jon had booked it for 8:30, and I wrap up work at 8. An hour or so before the end of my day, Jon kept trying to steam his khakis. The steamer kept knocking out the power while I was in the middle of work, which was stressing me out. He tried three times! I texted Mercedes that he kept trying to steam his khakis so it had to be tonight.
But then of course I second-guessed myself. It was a bit chilly so I kept asking Jon if I should change out of my dress and into pants. He was super noncommittal so I thought maybe this is just a regular boat evening instead of the beginning of our engagement story. Thank goodness I decided to wear the dress in the end.
Jon let me know that our boat was running about ten minutes late which actually gave me time to wrap one more work thing up. He had packed a bag with a towel and toys for Jolene. I grabbed a bottle of champagne I’d picked up on my trip and a set of glasses. We headed down to meet the boat, and there was a big beautiful wooden boat sitting at the dock.
At this point, I still thought we were taking the Dam Boat Guys. It was when I saw their boat drive right past the dock that I thought maybe the other boat was actually for us. Then the captain came up, and Jon let me know we were actually taking this boat. That was when I knew it was really happening.
The boat was insanely gorgeous and so much nicer than the one I thought we would be taking. As we sat down I switched one of my rings from my left hand to my right justttt in case. There was a big bouquet of white tulips on the table and the captain brought out a cheese plate. He then asked us what we’d like to drink. I was still sort of confused so I kept telling him he could open the champagne I had brought. But of course, the boat came with drinks so he offered to open a bottle they had in the fridge. Jon asked for beer and ended up downing a few of them fairly quickly.
The captain asked where we would like home to take us. Not knowing this had already been planned out, I suggested the Amstel river. Sunset was coming shortly, and Jon and I had been talking about running along the Amstel recently. Just before we came to the river I went inside to use the restroom. It was then that Jon hid the ring under the cushions on the bench and gave his phone to the captain to try and capture a photo.
When I came back, I sat down and started taking pictures of the beautiful light behind the famous Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge). As we neared the bridge, Jon let me know he had another surprise. From behind the cushions, he pulled out a blue box.
Just before we went under the bridge, he got down on one knee. Neither of us remembers exactly what he said in the moment, but as Coldplay’s The Scientist played on the speaker, he asked me to marry him. Naturally, I said yes!
As we came out on the other side of the bridge, he let me know there was one final surprise to our engagement story. As we turned around, a photographer was standing on the bridge behind us. Jon knew I wanted good photos when he proposed, and he had a photographer there to capture the whole thing. We ended up picking her up to take some photos on the boat. We then walked around for a half-hour so she could take pictures of us with Amsterdam in the background and on the bridge that now holds so much meaning for us.
We ended up riding the boat along the canals until midnight, calling family and sharing this special evening together. Jon had put together a playlist titled July 22nd, 2021 that played in the background with love songs and some of our favorite tunes. It was so sweet and magical.
I was so surprised that our engagement story didn’t take place on one of our many travels, but in the end, it makes total sense that he did it in Amsterdam. We’ve lived in this city for nearly four years now. It’s the longest we’ve lived anywhere together and such a huge part of our lives. We have so many memories along the Amstel river, and the Magere Brug added another level of meaning since the story is that a kiss under the bridge means you’ll stay together forever.
I could not have asked for a more perfect night, a more perfect proposal, or a more perfect man to spend the rest of my life with.
Photography by Framed by Emily
Boat chartered through Pure Boats Amsterdam
