Before I tell you about our perfect day, let me give you a little backstory. Before I met Mark, I had always dreamed of visiting Lake Como in Italy. I’d seen so many beautiful pictures, and it looked like a dream come true. So, when Mark and I started planning our trip, I told him that we had to visit Lake Como—it was one of the first places on our list. I showed him pictures and videos, explaining how excited I was. Fast forward seven months, and we had finally made it to Italy. We ultimately decided to take a day trip to Lake Como from Milan since it’s a small and rather expensive destination.

However, just a few days before our trip to Lake Como, I kept pestering Mark about booking a boat tour. I’d found a budget-friendly option on a large boat with lots of people; I just wanted to see the city from the water. He kept brushing it off, and when I wouldn’t stop, he finally told me he had already booked a boat tour. I was surprised! Then he revealed that he had booked us a private boat—the same type I had shown him pictures of months before. I cried when he told me, thinking it was such a sweet surprise… little did I know the surprises weren’t over yet.

Now, to the day itself: Sunday, August 25th, 2024. We woke up bright and early to catch our train to Lake Como. I made sure to wear my beautiful new dress so we could get some good pictures on the boat. The train ride to Como took about an hour and a half, and when we finally arrived, we were in awe. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined, and the weather was perfect.

We needed to get to the other side of the lake to meet our captain for the boat ride, so we headed over and grabbed lunch by the water, with a stunning view of the mountains and lake. After the meal, we realized that Ubers and taxis were scarce. We had a 15-minute drive to the boat dock in the next town, but no one was accepting our Uber request, and no taxis were available either. Panic started to set in as the time for our boat tour got closer. We called every taxi number we could find, thanks to the locals who gave us contacts.

Finally, just as we were beginning to lose hope, an Uber accepted our ride, and we arrived at the dock just minutes before our scheduled departure. Needless to say, we were quite stressed!

We finally got onto the boat—a small, vintage-style wooden boat that looked like it came straight out of a romance movie. This was when I first noticed Mark starting to get nervous. Our captain was telling us some history about Lake Como while I was busy taking pictures of the beautiful lake. I kept looking at Mark, asking if he was seeing the same breathtaking views I was, but he seemed so nervous that it started to make me nervous too.

At one of the stops, our captain took some pictures for us. Then, Mark asked him to take a video, which made me curious. I asked why, and suddenly, Mark got down on one knee (as best as he could on this small boat) and began saying the sweetest things. I couldn’t help but start crying from excitement. He asked me if I would marry him, and of course, I said yes! It was so enchanting—it felt like the most perfect moment in the world.

We took some amazing pictures and even had the chance to drive the boat around a bit before we had to leave. We continued our day at the famous Villa del Balbianello, where we FaceTimed our families back home to share the exciting news. We took more photos together and spent the rest of the beautiful day talking about how incredible the proposal, the ring, and the entire day had been.