This past week, Michael and I took a trip to Calgary to visit with his family over New Year’s. We had a wonderful time catching up with his parents and brother, celebrating a belated Christmas, eating some delicious meals, and perusing through old albums of Michael as a little munchkin. Of course, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit beautiful Banff, just a short drive from Calgary.
The Banff Springs Hotel truly emulates its title as “A Castle in the Mountains”. The architecture is stunning, authentic, and being in an old castle surrounded by the Canadian snow-topped Rockies is nothing short of magical. Which is probably why Michael decided this would be the perfect location for a proposal.
The morning of the proposal, we had an amazing buffet breakfast in the Fairmont dining room. Michael didn’t give anything away as he was super calm and ‘going with the flow’. We even watched some Ellen DeGeneres in our hotel room and had a casual lunch. We were scheduled to meet a photographer for a mini photo session after lunch. It was then, while we were waiting for our lunch to arrive, that Michael went back up to the room to get his cell-phone (read: ring) so he could contact the photographer if we got lost in the huge castle.
We met up with the photographer and took some shots around the beautiful hotel, where we eventually came upon a mostly-quiet room with large windows and a fireplace. There, mid photo shoot, Michael got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was so stunned for a few moments, but of course, I said “yes!” without hesitation.
Banff is a place I visited twice with my family as a teenager, so, along with its obvious beauty, it holds a special place in my heart for the fond memories I have of being there. And now, I am lucky enough to add another incredibly special memory by experiencing one of the biggest milestones of my life there, with the person I cannot wait to begin forever with.
