I knew I wanted to marry Maddie three months into our relationship, after (surviving) meeting the Dyers and deciding it was her turn to meet mine. Once she met my family and performed the splits for all of them, I knew I was in love and I needed to make her my wife! After another eight months of thinking of many ways to make this happen, I figured first I needed to get her parents' blessing. The Dyers are such a close family, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and after proving I could hold my own staying with them from Thanksgiving through Christmas, I was determined to get their blessing before the end of the year.

Maddie was in San Francisco one night during this trip, and I cooked dinner for Nancy and Ken. After a few bottles of fantastic wine, I finally brought the conversation around to the big question, and fortunately they were both approving. It did feel like Ken was warning me just a bit when he wanted to be very clear that Maddie is “A LOT” and ensure I knew what I was getting into. As if by queue, Maddie started calling all of us. She was fully aware of the conversation that was happening that night and could not contain herself after not hearing from any of us for about three hours!

I was honored that Maddie’s Nana had given Nancy her wedding ring to pass along to her granddaughter, and eventually to me. Fortunately, my sister-in-law Alice is a jewelry designer, and with my mum heading from Auckland to London by way of San Francisco to see her, my brother, and my newborn nephew over the holidays, she agreed to carry the ring with her to get it redesigned.

Now that we had the ring under way, the real planning could begin. I decided that I wanted to surprise Maddie and for those of you that know her well, you all realize how difficult this could be! There were a number of different plans that were thoroughly thought through including New Zealand, a potential trip to Chicago, or even on a visit to Sacramento later in the year.

Whilst I certainly tend to have a bit (understatement) more patience than Maddie, when it came to the proposal, I definitely struggled. There were many times that I just wanted to get the ring and propose on the earliest possible weekend. For both Maddie and me though, I knew it would be so important to have our families involved to make it truly special. Both our families have been so supportive of us, and I just knew we had to have them be a part of it in some way.

Fortunately, Maddie’s brother Christian gave us the perfect excuse to have everyone gathered when he had a rugby game scheduled in New York. When Lyall, Alice, Nancy, and Ken all decided to come watch, I finally had the perfect opportunity to have us all together.

Whilst all of this sounds very straightforward, throughout this process, I was trying to keep things a secret from Maddie. This threw a number of spanners in the works, as she kept asking for just “a little hint” and trying to make her own plans for the weekend. The initial idea was to have lunch at one of our favorite spots in Central Park, however Maddie decided that since we were going to the Statue of Liberty, that made going to that side of town impractical. Eventually, I had settled on a plan, and Maddie was given a small hint, which finally shut her up.

After three months of Maddie pestering me, the day was finally upon us. Our families had arrived and everyone was prepared with the plan (barring Maddie, much to her annoyance). Ken and Nancy made excuses to not join us for a walk down the Highline in New York (one of our favorite things to do in the city). They had snuck down to a very cute spot called Little Island, where I had ordered yellow flowers - Maddie’s favorite color - and arranged a photographer to meet us. Maddie was definitely getting suspicious on the walk that something was up when I was texting to check in on Nancy, and making sure she had found the right spot. I had provided an entire PowerPoint presentation with maps and timings, but as always, much was also being made up on the go! Nancy wound up in a totally different location with Ken.

We made it to, finally, and dropping down to one knee, I was already in tears thinking about everything that had led to this point, and I could barely get the question out! Maddie’s reaction was so big, she actually forgot to say the word “yes” before we started celebrating! The celebrations lasted all day, culminating in all of us drinking wine in plastic cups and eating pizza in the rain under the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo. It truly was a quintessential Davenport-style celebration, and seeing the Dyers fit right into it truly tells me that our families were made to be joined!