I never thought in a million years that he would have thought about proposing like this. Alberto really outdid himself with this. In Italy, down-on-one-knee proposals are pretty rare. Normally, it’s a conversation. The couple discusses being married and they start planning. Engagements aren’t as big of a deal as they are in the US. They actually use the word for fiance very loosely. “Fidanzato/a” literally means fiance, but they start using it right when the couple officially starts dating like we, in the US would use boyfriend/girlfriend. With that said, something THIS perfect never crossed my mind!

He had his best friend text him the day before asking if we wanted to go to Verona, given that his girlfriend had never been. It was my favorite spot for obvious reasons and I was excited, as I always am, to show them where our love story really began. Something special about that Sunday was that it only cost 1 euro to get into the museums, so it made sense to be going – he made sure that I didn’t suspect a thing. Our friends came to meet us at our house that morning, February 3rd 2019, and we were all so happy, what I thought, to just take a little day trip together.

When we got to Verona, I was dying for a hot chocolate. Feeling all the love from the city, naturally I was all snuggly. This made things a little more difficult for Alberto. Apparently, he was so nervous (even though he did a great job not showing it) especially because I kept touching the spot where he was hiding the ring! Finally, I went to the bathroom which gave him the chance to launch the ring at our friend Andrea for safekeeping until the moment was right.

We stopped to see the colosseum (yes, Verona has one too, it’s not just in Rome) which was actually my first time. Usually, my goal is La Casa di Giulietta and normally I keep my eye on the prize, however today it only costs a euro to see the rest of the museums. Alberto tried to stall a little bit to make sure that I was convinced that we had no reason to rush over to Juliet’s house. We walked around for a little, but gravity pulled me, and I pulled the others over to my favorite spot.

As we walked over, it was just like all the other times. I’ve brought so many friends and family members to see it, and every time the feeling is the same. There is romance all around, no matter how many times I’ve been. I must say, however, things have slightly changed since the first time:

• When I first went, a separate room right off the courtyard was open where I could sit peacefully and write my letter. Since then, I have never seen this room open again.
• When I first went, there was a box to leave the letter without even entering the museum. Now, you have to enter the museum to reach the mailbox where you can slip in your already written letter.
• When I first went, they offered me a pen and paper to write down my letter. Now, there are computers in the museum to email Juliet.

Alberto and I say, that maybe she used up all her magic to bring us together.

We went inside La Casa di Giulietta and the first thing to see is the balcony. There’s always a line of people waiting to take this picture. Now, knowing what I know, Alberto’s heart was racing at this moment. He was getting ready to pop the question, and I still had no clue! Andrea gave me his phone to take a picture of them on the balcony. They posed and I shot some super cute memories for them. Then, we traded places. Alberto handed Andrea his phone to, what I thought take a picture of us – but no, it was a video. This is what happened:

He pulled away from the first kiss and that’s when I realized what was happening. I didn’t know what to do, so I pulled at him to kiss again haha! I guess my natural instinct is to make things more difficult for him? He couldn’t speak and had tears in his eyes. No one could have planned it better than this. The word YES never had more meaning. After, I was drunk on love in a way I can’t really describe in words. I was crying even though I don’t remember crying. Other people were crying, people I didn’t even know! I was walking in front of cars, and telling people that the wedding could be January 3rd, 2020 because it was “exactly a year away,” but it wasn’t we were in February. This was, without a doubt, the best moment of my entire life and worth the 3 years and 4-month wait!

We celebrated with friends that night at a local bar – even though I had no need for alcohol. We had a beautiful engagement party in Florida planned by my Mom and Step-mom together. We had beautiful engagement photos taken by Brittany Lemire Photography . We had 11 months to plan an international wedding, from Bergamo to Palm Beach, and that in itself was an adventure…

Here are some of my favorite pics from our engagement shoot: