Cess Says Yes

We arrived in Mazunte, a small cove home to just 700 people, as the sun rose over the Pacific Ocean. It was stunning: a wild, untouched beach with crashing surf, overlooked by palm-roofed cabanas set haphazardly on rocky outcrops. The sea was so clear that when the waves broke you could see right through the crest. Fishermen were launching their boats in the hope of a good day's tuna catch. We found a basic cabin perched 20 metres above the beach, surrounded by forest. Dan said he knew then that this was the place he would propose.

I suggested getting up for sunrise the next day. I’m not a morning person, but I managed to crawl out of bed and into the enormous hammock on our balcony, where we had a view straight out to sea. I was bleary-eyed, and dressed in a polar fleece, with no idea of what was coming.  As we watched the neon-orange sun rise dreamily through a layer of cloud, Dan asked me to marry him. Admittedly, the first thing I said was “Really?” (Dan has half-jokingly proposed many times before so I had to check he was serious – but then decided he would be a complete bastard to be joking at such a romantic moment.)

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He said, “Well I’ve got this ring….” and produced a silver “promise ring.” Apparently in France people used to give each other rings engraved with the inscription “Vous, et nul autre” – you and no other. Dan got it translated into Maori. He had engraved on the ring “Ko koe, ko koe anake” – you, only you. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever received. 

(Admittedly it didn’t fit at first… too many tacos. Our good friend Angus who is now king of matchmakers having set us up asked if I was planning on going on a finger diet, or getting it enlarged. We found a jeweller in Oaxaca to expand it as we went for lunch…!)

It was an amazing moment. I seriously didn’t see it coming. Last year, when I suggested a big trip home, Dan said “well it's travel or a ring.” I picked travel. I’m very lucky to get both. 

We couldn't quite bring ourselves to leave Mazunte, and kept delaying our departure. We got up for sunrise every morning after that, to watch it from the "engagement hammock", or from in the ocean itself. 

Mazunte was also an incredible place to watch the sun set - we hiked to a point to join the hippies playing guitars as the sun slipped into the ocean far on the horizon.  

Oh, and we’ve been getting in some wedding practice already: in a Mayan village called Zinacantan, before we got engaged, the locals dressed us up in traditional wedding dress. Dan had a quiet chuckle to himself knowing he had a ring in his pack. Here’s what our big day could look like.... 

Thanks again for all your congrats - this is a shot of me stoked to be reading them all!