Esther & Anthony Civil Ceremony

Venue: Ashcombe Maze

October 2019

In 2017, after almost 10 years together Anthony decided to finally propose to Esther. He had done his research on internet forums to pick the best ring and enlisted the help of her friend to check her ring size.

Once FedEx delivered the ring, Anthony checked his work travel schedule, only to find a small window of opportunity between work trips and Christmas! He planned his proposal approach, which involved framed photos and a design of a ring box to fit inside a frame. The night before, at around midnight - Anthony noisily tried to print out the ring-holder using the 3D printer - much to the annoyance of Esther who was trying to sleep! Poor Esther, it took 6 hours to print!

On a random Tuesday night, which was Anthony’s only proposal opportunity before his work trip, he waited till Esther came home from work. Anthony made some excuse to run to Kmart to get wrapping paper and ribbon for the photo frames. He had printed some of their favourite travel photos and wrapped them individually in their frames. Esther came out of the shower in her pyjamas and found Anthony there waiting for her. He presented her with the framed photos, which he claimed were to decorate the house. She happily put them on shelves in the living room. He then presented her with some other travel photos he had printed.

As she went through them one-by-one she noticed that all the photos were of them, together as a couple. When she reached the final photo, she was excited because she thought she might see a picture of a ring. What she saw instead was the Kmart summary receipt of the photos he had printed. Feeling dejected, Esther thanked Anthony anyway despite his obvious trolling.

But then he said, ‘Hang on, I do have one last present for you.’ He handed her the framed ring box and she was greeted with the sight of a photo of Iceland, with a ring displaying through the photo and the words, Our Next Adventure. After some strategic manoeuvring to get the ring out of its custom frame, Anthony did NOT get down on one knee but asked Esther to marry him. Spoiler alert – she said yes!