Tim got home from San Francisco today and we finally got our “new” barbecue out. It was a fairly late engagement party combined with a very late house-warming party, which is what we bought the barbecue for at the end of last year.

With only 5 months to go, lots is going on now. On the other side of the world, my mum has booked the flights and accommodation for my family to stay in Sydney, and has bought her fascinator. Helen is continuing her attempt to find a bridesmaid dress and is looking into day-spas in Sydney for my “hen day”. Tim’s niece has agreed to be our flower girl and Christine and I have been looking at potential dresses for her. I’ve been looking into gift registries and although Myer don’t offer any sort of online service whatsoever, they might still be our best option. Next week, we’re going to Epping to look for flowers.

See also the post about our first engagement party, in England

We had the first of two engagement parties yesterday. It was a quiet event in the afternoon, with my parents, my sister and her family, my uncle, 2 neighbours, and 2 friends with their young children. We’re having the second when we get home to Sydney since we still need a reason to put up the barbecue we bought for our house warming party that we never got round to holding!

Tim proposed to me on Saturday night in a romantic setting outside the Sydney Opera House overlooking the Harbour Bridge.

We’re planning to get married in NSW this year, around the time of our three year anniversary.

Here’s a picture of the ring. It’s white gold with three Moissanite stones. I wanted an alternative to diamonds to avoid mining, cartels, conflicts, and marketing. Photographed sitting on the red roses Tim bought me.

And the picture below shows the location of the proposal. (Photo by Diliff, cc-by-sa)