Brian: In the 2 years that Brandi and I had been together, we had often talked about taking a vacation together, but due to the demands of work and school we had never gotten around to it. So back in October of 2006 I suggested that we go somewhere exciting the following Spring Break. After doing a little research, and wracking my brain over how and where I wanted to propose, I suggested Venice and Brandi agreed. Of course, at the time she had no idea about my plans.

Brandi: I was very excited about the idea of going to Venice, both because I had never been overseas, and because I knew that Venice would be an amazing place to visit. Of course, after we announced we were planning a trip to Venice, my friends starting insisting that Brian must be planning to propose to me there. Part of me felt that this may be true, and certainly hoped it to be true, but I also didn’t want to be disappointed if it didn’t happen. Nor did I want to ruin the surprise. I think that even if I had known for sure that it was going to happen, it wouldn’t have changed the moment at all.

Brian: Fast forward to February and buying the ring. The main thing I remember is the overwhelming feeling that I had just reached a very significant milestone in my life. I was beyond excited at the prospect of proposing to the most beautiful woman I had ever known. I snuck the ring over in a money belt we had bought for the trip. The fear of security making me pull the ring out in front of her (visions of proposing in a metal detector) or worse yet confiscating it was palpable, but luckily I had no problems getting the ring through metal detectors or customs without Brandi seeing it.

Brandi: We arrived in Venice on Friday, March 2nd. We were too tired to really do anything on that day except grab some food and go to bed very early. The next morning, we woke up early and started to go out and see the sights. We saw St. Mark’s Square while it was almost completely empty, and it was amazing. We also visited several of the other well known sights in Venice. It was almost overwhelming because there was so much beauty to take in. That evening we decided to find a restaurant to eat in and we headed back over toward the St Mark’s square area. We had a nice dinner with a couple of bottles of wine and enjoyed the beautiful, albeit slightly chilly, night air.

Brian: After we ate we decided we would walk back across the island, and we started heading in the general direction of our hotel. I really had had no definite plans on when I was going to ask her. My “plan” had been to carry the ring around on me until the right moment presented itself. There happened to be an absolutely breath-taking full lunar eclipse that night, and given my penchant for things astronomical I decided that tonight might be the night. So there we were, walking in and out of the cobblestone passageways of Venice, not really knowing exactly where we were and not really caring. We were just talking and having a wonderful time. Eventually we realized our path was about to dead-end into the Grand Canal.

Brandi: As we contemplated turning around, Brian told me he had a question to ask me. He got down on his knee and asked me if I would marry him. What could I say but, of course. I do not think there are words in any language that can describe how we were feeling at that moment. Despite the fact we had been walking around the island since around 6 AM, it seemed as if my feet were barely touching the ground as we walked blissfully back to our hotel room.