I thought I would give you a little personal insight into our marriage proposal and possibly one of the best underwater experiences of my life! Keep reading for the full story, but if you can't wait, scroll to bottom for the video.
How It Started
Nine years ago my husband whisked me away on a surprise weekend break and I had absolutely no idea where we were going or what we were doing. After a lot of distraction from the check-in staff and giggles from the airline crew, we landed in Atlanta, Georgia! I’m not going to lie, I was very confused why he’d brought me all the way to Atlanta as normally we'd be jetting off on safari or diving but I smiled through the confusion and went with it.
We spent our first evening at our first-ever basketball game watching the Atlanta Hawks play Orlando Magic. It was AMAZING! I was blown away at how much I enjoyed it, from the game to the full-on entertainment and even the hysteric laugher from spilling the entire contents of my hot dog into my lap as I attempted the Mexican wave!
The Plan Unfolds...
The next morning was the big day and my husband told me we were going somewhere special, so I made sure I put on my best dress, make up and heels. Little did I know, how overdressed I would shortly be!!
We make a quick pit stop for a gigantic plate of American pancakes topped with whipped cream and sprinkles which certainly made me feel like I needed to lie down for the rest of the day!
Georgia Aquarium
We continued our walk around the city when we suddenly arrived outside the Georgia Aquarium where my husband reveals this was our adventure for the day! I suddenly felt extremely overdressed and a little bit annoyed. However, I couldn't stay mad for long as Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest, helps with the conservation of some incredible species and has an exhibit as large as a football field, which can hold up to 6 Whale Sharks!
After a couple of hours exploring the aquarium and taking a back-stage tour to witness the team’s incredible conversation efforts we headed over to the Ocean Voyager & Tropical Reef Area which hosts one of the largest living reef exhibits in the WORLD! It is absolutely breath-taking! I stood there in disbelief at the sheer size of the tank and the diversity of marine life inside, from leopard sharks to saw sharks, ragged-tooths and not one but four Whale sharks!!!
Now at this point, I still had no idea why my husband had brought us halfway across the world just to visit an aquarium! That’s when he turned to me and said “in 30mins we are going to be diving in there!” I nearly passed out there and then! I was still quite a nervous diver at the time and in all honestly, I wanted to turn and run! I knew a lifelong dream of his was to dive with Whale Sharks and after our several failed attempts to spot them in the Maldives, I pushed away my fear, believed his story and went with it.
The Proposal...
Before jumping in, our dive guide advised that once we get to the viewing window, which we had been on the other side of just 30mins before, we should wave to the children outside, as they love to see scuba divers as they are like celebrities to them!
We finally hit the water and swam amongst the whale sharks for about 20mins before making our way to the viewing window. That's when my husband suddenly got down on his knees and signalled for me to join him. I thought we were just preparing to take some photos but then, BAM...he pulls out the biggest novelty diamond ring you’ve ever seen and I soon realised what he had been up to all along! I was completely overwhelmed with emotion, started crying in my mask and choking in shock!!! With a nod of the head and an underwater kiss, WE WERE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!
After what felt like the longest safety stop, we arrived at the surface where everyone was in tears! It was so surreal and I spent the rest of the day smiling from ear to ear, whilst still in a bit of shock!
It’s a moment that I will never forget and just sharing this story with you gives me goosebumps! Not only did we have an epic underwater engagement, we were the first guests to ever get engaged inside the tank and my husband finally fulfilled his dream of diving with whale sharks which led us on to visit Cenderawasih Bay a few years later. Check out the trip here…
Sadly we do not have any photos from the underwater engagement, so here's a photo of us on a tiger safari instead!
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