landlocked bride™ | midwest + mountain west wedding inspiration

One year ago today, the Pilot proposed to me.

Which reminds me – I’ve never actually told you how he proposed, so here it goes! And, of course, photos are included!!

Last January, we had planned a trip to Colorado for some skiing and to visit some friends of ours. We were both pining for a visit to the Rockies, but the Pilot had a hidden agenda for this trip – a proposal! His initial plan was to propose on the first night while we were out snow tubing. Our flight arrived a bit late, so after driving from DEN to Keystone, a delicious Mexican dinner and countless hours of catching up, we never made it out to go snow tubing.

The Mr. had to come up with “Plan B” – to propose on Saturday while we were on the slopes. Unfortunately, I took a pretty big spill mid-day and was not feeling up to par (Side Note: Always wear a helmet on the slopes – it’s what saved me from getting a concussion).

To an improvised Plan C he went. On Sunday, I decided to take a half-day snowboarding refresher course in the morning. It had been nearly four years since I had last been on the slopes, so I was not game for hurting myself again on Day 2. After dropping me off, the Pilot shared the news with our friends that he was going to propose. They spent the first half of the day skiing/snowboarding and scoping out the perfect spot for him to pop the question.

Mid-afternoon, we all took the Keystone Gondola up to the summit to enjoy some lunch. On the way up, my mom had called to “check in.” Really, she was calling to see what was up. The Pilot had told my parents he was going to propose on Friday, so she was getting antsy as to why I had not called her yet with the news.

This photo was taken just moments before the proposal!

Anyway, after lunch, we all headed back out for our last run of the day. My friend A (who also happens to be a bridesmaid) managed to get my camera from me by offering to get some action shots of me snowboarding down the mountain. By this point, I was still completely clueless, so I offered her my camera so she could snap some photos (all of the photos I had taken up to this point did not have me in them).

Our friends plopped down at the top of run to strap on their snowboards, but I opted to set up on a more flat spot so my snowboard wouldn’t take off down the mountain. Oddly enough, a few weeks prior, I had purchased new snowboard bindings, which had been giving me trouble all weekend, requiring someone to help me strap my boots into my bindings. The Pilot had begun to take off his skis “to help” (or so I thought).

The Pilot about to pop the question!

He sat down next to me (instead of helping me with my bindings) and pulled the ring out of his coat. While all of this is happening, our friends are behind us snapping photos of the proposal, and I’m extremely focused on trying to get my bindings locked. He managed to get my attention and went into a spiel about starting our lives together, most of which I don’t remember (sorry honey!). I started crying and shaking a bit, but of course said “YES!” The sun was setting over Keystone, and my best friend asked me to marry him while we were at the top of the Frenchman ski run. It is definitely a day I will never forget and only strengthened our love for the State of Colorado.

Ring on the finger action.

A snowboard shot of the ring.

The happy couple!

Sunset at Keystone.

Ring shot from the car ride back to our condo.

**All images are personal and taken by a friend.**

To the Pilot – Happy Engage-aversary! And, a big THANKS for picking such a beautiful location to start a new chapter in our lives!