My Disney Engagement Story by Mary Claire
Hey everyone! It’s Mary Claire! 2021 was a big year for me! I got engaged, got married and moved to a new place. In the new year of 2021, it was my goal to go to Disney to do a planning trip. I wanted to stay at some new resorts, try out some new restaurants and get used to Disney’s new mask policy. I had gone on a family trip in early fall of 2020, but I tried to refrain from taking too many pictures in an effort to spend quality time with my family. So in early 2021, I knew that I wanted to have a trip to Disney just to be able to go and see things and gather better information for my clients!
I talked with my parents and they were surprisingly on board, which now I know why, but at the time I remember thinking, “Wow, that was easy convincing.” I guess that should have been my first clue, but I was too naive to notice. We decided to book the trip for early March to try and avoid heavy crowds and experience some good weather. It was just me and my parents that went which was super exciting because coming from a big family, going on a trip with just your parents as the only kid is pretty cool. The day before we left I remember standing in the living room planning out my outfits and my dad said, “Make sure you get your nails done since you’ll be taking pictures for the blog!” This one definitely should have been clue #2 but still, I did not catch on. I looked back and said, “OH that is a good point. I’ll make an appointment right now.” The next day we were off! We left out super early, Rylan dropped us off at the airport and hugged me goodbye and said, “I’ll see ya soon!” And me, being so excited to go to Disney (and tired because it was an early flight) did not notice this 3rd and very obvious clue.
We boarded the plane and landed in Orlando and started our trip. We had a great time staying at lots of different resorts and tried lots of new foods (Which I’ll blog more about later). It was coming to the end of the trip and we were moving over to the Grand Floridian for the last two nights of our stay. If you know me, you know that the Grand Floridian is my absolutely favorite resort so I was *very* excited! We checked in our room and headed over to Epcot to take some pictures of the beautiful flowers at the Flower and Garden Festival (which is an absolute must see if you haven’t already). Because I knew that we were headed over to the Flower and Garden Festival where I knew I would be taking some pictures, I put on a cute outfit that I brought, fixed my hair and refreshed my makeup. After we walked around Epcot for a little we decided to head back to the resort for dinner. When we arrived back be hopped off the bus and were about to walk back to the room but my dad said, “Hey, lets go over to the wedding pavilion and take some pictures over there since its almost sunset!” You know me, you don’t have to ask me twice to take a picture so I said, “Let’s do it! I’ve always wanted to go over there.” As we started to walk over there one of the bag service members offered us a ride in his golf cart (which if you’ve ever stayed at the Grand Floridian you know exactly what I am talking about). He chatted with me and my parents about how our stay has been and all the things, then he dropped us off right in front of the Vacation Club Villas, which is right in front of the wedding chapel. We approached the wedding chapel, crossed over the beautiful bridge and went through the huge white gates..and I still had no idea what was waiting for me as I went inside…
As soon as we went through the gates to the wedding arch, I saw in the distance, Rylan’s blonde hair and gingham shirt. I thought to myself “There is no way!” I went in a little further and sure enough, there was Rylan standing under the big white wedding arch with Cinderella’s castle nestled perfectly in the background. I started running towards him and we both had the biggest grins on our faces. When I got up and hugged me, he immediately got down on one knee and said “Mary Claire Long, will you marry me?” Me, still completely in shock and trying to process what was going on said, “YES, of course!” Then we kissed and he put my ring on my finger. I didn’t pick out my engagement ring, so this was my first time seeing the ring and let me just say, he did an amazing job picking out a ring for me. I wanted to be surprised and not see the ring he picked out for me until he put it on my finger and it was just another sweet surprise of the day.
As soon as he proposed we called all our family members & dearest friends. Then, my next thought was to go immediately to the front desk and ask for a button so they could write “just engaged” on it so we could wear it. In true Disney fashion, that was my first thought to get my celebration button, but we put them on and everyone was saying “Congratulations!” So it just added to the fun and excitement all the more. We finished off the night with dinner at Narcoosees, my favorite restaurant at Disney!
It truly was a fairytale and all that I could have dreamed it to be. The fact that Rylan flew all the way down to Orlando & brought a photographer along to capture the moment was crazy to think about. It was the sweetest day that I will remember forever. The next day, we celebrated with a fun day at the Magic Kingdom, which I hope to share more about soon. But it was the sweetest day spending time in the happiest place on earth with my new fiancé!
