On February 11, 2022 Casey got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I said YES!
Casey and I had talked about an engagement many times over the last few months, but I had no idea he was planning to do it this particular weekend. I always told Casey I wanted to be surprised for the proposal, and I truly didn’t think he could pull it off so well. But he definitely did.
Over the past few weeks there were two things that made me a little suspicious it was happening soon. When we visited my parents in January, Casey and my dad went out to grill for quite a long time and I suspected that he might have asked my dad if he could marry me. When I asked Casey about it, he played it off and said something that made me think he hadn’t even thought about asking my dad. But I know now that he did it then!
Another thing was the week before Asheville, Caseys’ coworker’s wife asked me to get my nails done with her. I of course said yes, but was suspicious of the timing. I again asked Casey about it and told him of my suspicions, but he reassured me he was planning to do it over summer and that he didn’t even have the ring and wasn’t ready. Little did I know Casey had asked her to ask me (good job Casey!!).
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The drive to Asheville was about 3 hours, and I noticed Casey was a bit antsy and rushed the whole drive. In my head we didn’t have any plans so there was no need to be rushed on our afternoon drive. We finally got to the hotel around 4:30, and what I didn’t know then is that Casey had booked a photographer for 4:30 at the Omni Grove Park Inn… no wonder he was stressing.
To give you some background on the location, Casey and I took our first trip together in January of 2020 to Asheville & went to the Omni Grove Park Inn. That was one of our favorite trips, and the Omni is such a magical, beautiful place. We say it’s the trip we both really knew each other was the “one.”
We had planned to go have a drink at the Omni and watch the sunset, then go to dinner in downtown Asheville after. He was so stressed about leaving our hotel asap, and just kept saying “we’re going to miss the sunset!!” ….. it was 4:30 and the sun set at 6:15 lol.
I took my sweet time to get ready once we were in the hotel because again, in my head there was no time limit. I remember I hopped in the shower to rinse off and Casey said “are you seriously in the shower right now!?” I was so confused why he was rushed, but I just thought he really wanted to see the full sunset or something.
The drive to the Omni was about 9 minutes, and Casey literally almost crashed TWICE. And he’s usually a great driver. He was so nervous!! But at the time I thought he was just stressed out driving all afternoon in the mountains and wanted to get there to see the sunset.
We pulled in, parked and headed straight for the entrance. Casey grabbed my hand and took me right outside to the back porch where the sunset views were. I was once again confused and said “don’t you want to grab a drink first?” But he said no and continued to guide me down the stairs and to this random spot where no one was.
I turned to him and said “why are we going towards this fireplace that’s not even on?” And he responded so casually “I just want to go check it out.” And gullible me was like hm okay!
We got to the spot and I was just in my own world admiring the beautiful sunset. It was breathtaking!
I turned around and found Casey down on one knee.
I don’t know why but my first thought was denial. I was thinking is this a joke?? Because in my head I was sure it was going to happen over the summer.
I totally blacked out (sadly) and didn’t hear a word Casey said until he asked “will you marry me?” I remember saying yes without a doubt in my mind and giving him the biggest hug. I was smiling, crying, laughing, shaking, full of so many emotions. In the distance I heard clapping and hollering from the hotel guests and restaurant goers. I heard clicks from a camera too.
Casey put the ring on my finger and it was absolutely perfect. My dream ring!
We had a quick photoshoot with the photographer Casey hired (good job Casey again!!), then went inside to get a drink and just recap and celebrate. I had to ask Casey what he said before he asked me to marry him because I totally was in shock and couldn’t hear haha!
Sitting at the Omni was one of our favorite moments from the trip- watching the most beautiful sunset, sipping on a margarita and talking all things proposal + engagement.
If you haven’t been to the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, I HIGHLY recommend. Even if you’re not staying there, it’s so beautiful and fun to go watch the sunset over the mountains, enjoy a delicious dinner, and walk around the cute shops.
The rest of the weekend was so fun because two of my best friends from college were also in Asheville that weekend with their boyfriends! We all had a big celebration party Friday night, then went to the Biltmore Saturday, then went to dinner and out to celebrate again Saturday night. An unforgettable weekend!!
Casey and I are now 2 weeks into the engaged life and I am already stressing about wedding things!!! Please leave all your wedding tips in the comments below… help a girl out!
Stay Well,
Courtney
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