Our Engagement Story

When people find out that I’m engaged now, they always ask me if I was surprised. And I was! I had no idea that when I turned around, David would be down on one knee, waiting to ask me that one important question.

“Will you marry me?”

But let’s go back to the beginning.

On Tuesday June 17, 2025 we woke up in our hotel room in Montreal. Our vacation was just winding down and we were planning to head home that day. Although I was sad to be leaving such a wonderful trip, I knew it was time. We had done plenty of walking at the Montreal Grand Prix and around the city as we explored on our last day.

The night before, we took the Metro into Old Montreal and ducked in and out of shops along the main street. We had dinner at Jacopo, a beautiful little Italian restaurant that had incredible food and drinks. And after dinner, we walked by the water and took our last few photos of the city.

By the time we got back to our hotel, we were exhausted. We packed up what we could of our belongings and headed to bed.

In the morning, we stopped by the free continental breakfast on our way out. Over toast and eggs, Dave suggested that we make a stop before we left. He had heard of this place called Mount Royal where you could look out over the entire city. I agreed that we should go. We might as well see one more cool thing before we crossed the border and headed for home.

The weather was warm, but not too hot since it was the morning. I was wearing bicycle shorts and a crew neck sweatshirt. I had taken a shower that morning but I didn’t do my hair so it was pulled back in a ponytail.

We walked along the path, which led us to a visitors center as well as the overlook we had heard about. It was really neat. Before our trip, I hadn’t realized what a big city Montreal was. But looking out over the mountain things really felt large.

There were paths in multiple different directions. We saw interesting trees and lots of squirrels. There was an area with picnic tables. And there was an area of water, with wooden paths. Some women sat on benches while a guy was stretching over on the left.

We walked for a while and then turned around. I wanted to go back to the wooden path to see if there were any views we had missed. There were not. When I turned around, David was down on one knee, waiting to ask me that very important question.

“Will you marry me?”

It’s the question I had thought about so many times before. I had hinted subtly at first. And then my hints grew less subtle and more direct. I knew we were on the same page and that marriage was in our future. But when? And how? And where?

He made it very clear that engagement was something that he thought about often, but that he didn’t want to just ask to ask. He wanted to make it special. He wanted to surprise me.

And that’s exactly what he did! Now that it’s a month later, I’m still so happy and shocked when I think about that day. Our trip to Montreal was so amazing and I love that we got to end it by getting engaged.

This August will mark 6 years together and I feel so incredibly lucky to have found my person. If you’re reading this, thank you for sticking around until the end. This just felt like a moment that needed to be documented.

Love, Marian