We left our Christmas proposal tale with my hopes dashed but a new plan in place. On Christmas eve we would travel to York for a festive day out with tea at our favourite cafe, lunch at an amazing restaurant, evensong 
at the Minster and then, when the moment presented itself, I would ask Dominique to be my wife.
One week to go and my nerves and excitement were growing. We’d been together so long and I wanted it to be absolutely perfect for her. After the initial setback of not being able to propose after midnight mass I had planned every detail to ensure everything was just right. For the girl that loves everything about Christmas, this would be the greatest present I could ever give.
Two days to go and Scarborough was coated in a glistening coat of pure white snow. We’d been watching every Christmas film known to man, we’d spent our evening’s drinking mulled wine, singing carols and roasting chestnuts on an open fire… ok maybe that’s White Christmas but the snow bit was true and we’d definitely been doing something equally Christmassy!
One day to go and it was time to spring part one of the plan. “Let’s go to York tomorrow Dom, we’ll go and finish off the Christmas shopping and have a bit of a day out before dinner at your parents”.
“Oh, sorry I can’t
…What?
“Someone’s coming to pick up their wedding album”. …What??
Now Dom had assured me that she would not be working on Christmas eve, but I should explain that Dom’s idea of not working has always been a loose one. On this occasion apparently she didn’t plan on doing any work as such but we would 
still need to be in the studio all morning until her customers dropped by. They should be there early though, there was still a chance.
“And I really don’t want to go anywhere, the snow’s really bad, we might get trapped and I said we’d be at mum and dads by 4 o’clock”.
…WHAT???
The day had arrived, and I had no idea whatsoever about how I was going to propose, just that it had to happen by the end of the day. Apart from anything else, the ring was also to be Dom’s Christmas present and I wasn’t looking forward to explaining why I hadn’t got her anything! Perfect plan or no, I knew it had to be Christmas eve so I picked up the ring from its hiding place, put it in a discreet pocket and prayed to god that:
a) Dom didn’t hug me too tightly and wonder what that square box in my pocket was,
AND
b) That a perfect moment would present itself.
I didn’t know how or where it would happen but today was the day.
I’ll hand over to Dom to tell you just how it did happen!
