You're My Best Friend

I have, on a number of occasions, referred to the CPF - the close personal friend.

Well, no more!


It is now the close personal fiancée.



Here in separate sections, tailored specifically for men and women, I will attempt to answer any questions you might have in advance.

For the women:
When did you propose?
Tuesday afternoon last week.

Where did you propose?
In Venice - a stunningly beautiful, if slightly expensive, city.

Did you have the ring?
Did I what? Not a chance - I might know what an empire line is but there is no way I would be brave enough to pick an engagement ring. We will go shopping at the weekend.

How did you do propose?
In italian. Ti amo. Mi vuoi Sposare. (Thanks to R, the Italian). I don't speak any Italian so I may have butchered the pronunciation and actually asked if she would like to be a cabbage. Either way the CPF replied with a resounding "Si, Si Si".

I shied from the grand public gesture as I thought we would both be too shy and self conscious. Plus I figured there would probably be tears. There were. Mostly mine! Instead I asked her on the private roof top balcony of our hotel room, overlooking a quiet square (Campo San Zaccaria) and a beautiful Gothic church.

Did you go down on one knee?
Two actually - the CPF was sitting on a rocking chair on the balcony. I knelt at her feet, told her how much she means to me, how I want to wake up beside her every morning and popped the question.

Did you ask her father?
Yes - finally. We don't see each other too often and when we do it always seems as if the world and its mother are also in attendance. They day before we left for Venice was spent frantically trying to get in touch with my future father-in-law who was playing golf and had his phone turned off.

I had to resort to the "I need to work late" excuse in order to head out to meet him. The irony of me using the classic extra marital affair cover story when asking my FFIL for his daughter's hand in marriage was not lost on him - I promised it would be the last time I will ever use it.

Have you set a date?
Not yet - we have an idea of when we would like to get married but there is a lot to be organised yet.

Will it be a big wedding?
Definitely not. No bigger than 25 people. There will be no real reception as such, instead we will go for a meal somewhere and then for a few drinks.

Do you know who your best man/bridesmaids will be?
Yes - the CPF's very best friend will be bridesmaid and GW will be best man (so we can sell the photos to Hello magazine).

And the honeymoon?
No idea yet.




and for the guys:
Married? Is she pregnant?
No.

Going the pub for the cup final on Saturday?
Absolutely.