When the relationship between Henry and Perry became serious enough to discuss marriage, the inevitable discussions that followed included the subject of "who would propose to whom?" They both agreed that they'd love to be the one to "pop the question", but felt that it would be unfair for one to get to do it, and not the other. So the decision was made that they EACH would propose, at whatever time, in whatever way that they wanted to. It was agreed that no matter who proposed first, that there would be no pressure on the other one to have to do it within a certain amount of time – that the proposal should be their own version of a dream proposal, and that once they both had happened, and each were wearing an engagement ring, then the discussions would start about when and where to have the dream wedding. Unlike many couples who wonder if a marriage proposal is in their future, with Perry and Henry, the question was not whether there would be one, but how to best do it. The discussion then turned to engagement rings, as they both wanted to have as traditional of an engagement as possible, which would include wearing an engagement ring. Henry had seen the work of an extraordinary jewelry designer named Ashley Kersh, and thought the best choice would be for each of them to work with Ashley to design the perfect ring for the other – rings unlike any other in the world, specifically created for each other. Ashley met with both of them together, to get a feel for their tastes and likes/dislikes, so that she could guide them in their designs. Only a few details were shared: Perry’s ring should have an emerald, as green is his favorite color; Henry’s ring should have a sapphire, as he is obsessed with the color blue; and finally, that both rings should be made in platinum, so that even in their differences, they would still be a matched set. Perry had one further request: as it was Henry that he was marrying, and since Henry’s favorite color is blue, he asked that there be something blue in the ring designed for him. After that, there was no further discussion of the rings between the two, as each set out to create the perfect personalized and meaningful engagement ring. And thus began the anticipation of waiting for each one’s proposal, and the massive planning that each put into creating the proposal worthy of the love of their life.

The day after Henry's proposal, while still onboard the Queen Mary 2, somewhere out on the Atlantic Ocean, Perry sat down to write his memories of the proposal (while they were still fresh in his mind). What follows are the words Perry wrote that day:

Henry proposed to Perry on Friday, October 19, 2012 aboard the Queen Mary 2 on our Transatlantic crossing from England to New York.

Now, even though Henry was the one that came up with the “we should each propose in our own way, at our own time” concept, and was the one to say “no matter who proposes first, the other one should not feel pressure to have to get it done sooner, if that person’s plan was for a much later date”, as those who know Henry can attest: Henry is not the most patient of people when waiting for something he’s really excited about! Also those who know Henry well, know that he rarely (if ever) passes up an opportunity for some good natured ribbing and teasing. So it should be no surprise that after Henry’s proposal in October of 2012, Henry never missed an opportunity to tease Perry about his empty ring finger, or to suggest at any moment that was even remotely romantic, that “this would be a perfect time for someone to propose”. To Henry’s defense, he knew Perry well enough (especially in light of the grand scale of his proposal) to know what romantic moments were not likely to be a proposal, and only teased on those occasions. On Perry’s side, he had already planned the proposal to be on the exact date of the one year anniversary of them meeting on the Allure of the Seas. Which, of course, meant that impatient Henry had to wait a full FOUR MONTHS to get his ring! The torture of that wait for Henry was a source of endless pleasure for Perry. And for Perry, he knew the perfect place to propose would be at Cinderella’s Castle at Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom. As a cast member, he would use his connections to be sure that Henry’s favorite characters would be there to congratulate the couple, and most especially, to be sure that Henry’s favorite Disney character, The Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty), would be there for his engagement. This was especially poignant, as the ring he was designing for Henry would include the last line of music from Sleeping Beauty’s “Once Upon A Dream”. More on the ring later. First step was getting Henry to Disneyworld in February. That was resolved when one of Henry’s Christmas presents from Perry was a trip to Disneyworld for Valentine’s Week. Perry needed to go down to Disneyworld anyway to get another set of hours in, so that he could continue his active status as a seasonal employee (thus getting the couple the great Disney discounts that come along with being a cast member!).

On Henry’s side, he sort of figured that the February trip might be when Perry would propose, and was secretly happy that it might be at Disneyworld, as they are both huge Disney fanatics. But that didn’t stop Henry from thinking he might get the ring at Christmas in New Orleans, or perhaps even on New Year’s Eve, in front of his family. But that wasn’t the plan, and so Henry’s ring finger continued to stay bare for another month and a half!

Finally, the trip for the engagement had arrived. Perry had a grand plan of his own in store, which would include a formal dinner on the night of the engagement, necessitating getting their tuxedo’s down to Orlando without Henry knowing it. As Perry was going down a week prior to Henry to get in some of his seasonal hours, he was attempting to pack without Henry seeing what was going into the suitcase. He thought he had gotten away with it, until Henry noticed that Perry was using one of the garment bag suitcases, which is really only made for carrying suits and dress clothes, instead of a regular suitcase. In trying to be helpful, he suggested that Perry would have better luck using a regular suitcase. Perry began to slightly panic that if Henry really pushed the issue, he might unpack the suit bag and find the tuxedo’s, so he quickly assured Henry that he felt it was the perfect size and the easiest one to get around with. So crisis averted: the tuxedo’s, tux shirts, bowties, cummerbunds, dress socks and dress shoes were all in, and Henry was none the wiser! But the one thing that Perry was nervous about packing, though, were the cufflinks; they had recently just moved into a new apartment, and he figured Henry would probably be doing some unpacking and organizing during that week that Perry was gone, prior to his leaving for Orlando, and as all of Henry’s cufflinks are collector items and heirlooms, Perry was concerned that Henry might be looking for them if he began unpacking the boxes that had the jewelry and watches. Figuring that Henry might freak out if any of his heirloom cufflinks had gone missing, Perry decided the best option would be to not take any, and pick some up at Disneyworld – after all, they do sell everything at Disney, don’t they? (The answer, as they would find out, is, in fact, no… they do not!).

So, Perry left for Orlando, and Henry followed a week later, arriving a few days before Valentine’s Day. We’d love to report that the days at Disneyworld leading up to Valentine’s Day were perfection, but it seemed that every breathing human being in the world had descended on Disney that week, and the parks were PACKED! As Henry thought the proposal might just be on Valentine’s Day, he was wondering how Perry would pull it off in light of the tremendous crowds. They planned dinner at one of his favorite Disney restaurant’s that night – The Brown Derby at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Henry was fairly certain he knew where and when the proposal would be. So, did he just sit back patiently, and let it all unfold? Oh no, of course not, because Henry cannot help himself! He dug through every dish that arrived, searching for a ring (figuring that Perry would probably not do anything quite that cliché), and made some rather dramatic exclamations of “hmmm, no ring in HERE” as he dug through his food. But the Brown Derby dinner came and went, and there was a small thought in Henry’s head that perhaps he might have teased Perry so much, that Perry had changed his mind at the last minute and decided to postpone the proposal. And any normal person would have a thought like that and think to themselves “I probably should let up on the teasing, just in case…” But as many of you know, Henry is anything but normal! So, every opportunity that even smelled of a proposal, Henry was right on it with a “Oh, Perry, this is PERFECT” sort of exclamation. Perry issued more than a few warnings that if Henry didn’t stop teasing him, that he may not get a proposal at all! And did that stop Henry’s antics? All together now: Of course not!

Well, the final day arrived, which was February 18^th. And although Perry didn’t remind Henry that it was the one year anniversary of their meeting, Henry well knew how special the day was, and was fairly sure that this would be the day. And he was honestly very glad about it, because it would feel far more special to have Perry propose on this day, vs. a cliché “Hallmark Holiday”. (Apologies to anyone reading this who had a Valentine’s Day proposal! We truly do think that’s a lovely day to get engaged!)

So the day began at Magic Kingdom. This was the day that Perry had been planning for the past 6 months, so his nerves were high. Unbeknownst to Henry, many versions of the proposal had to be sent to Disney officials, which were then denied or asked for changes, based on their impressions of character integrity and union rules, etc. It was not an easy planning process for Perry, as he knew (being a cast member himself), that if any guest with enough money wanted something for an engagement, that Disney would bend over backwards to make it happen. But as a cast member, Perry was at the mercy of the managers, and found more roadblocks than genuine help to make this as magical and perfect a proposal as possible. But Henry knew none of this, as they arrived at Magic Kingdom that morning. All he knew was that in honor of their 1 year anniversary of meeting, Perry had arranged a private tour through Cinderella’s castle, which he was honestly very excited about. Not many guests get to actually go inside that amazing castle, and it really was the perfect “anniversary” gift. Henry also figured that there was a high likelihood that the proposal would happen on that tour – and he was thrilled with the idea of it. So, as they arrived at the park that morning, both very hungry and both eager to try the new “Be Our Guest” restaurant in Fantasyland, the very clever Perry told Henry to go get in line at the restaurant, while he went to guest services to confirm the Castle tour. This made perfect sense to Henry, as he had been hearing from everyone how long the lines were to get into the new Fantasyland Beauty & the Beast themed restaurant, with reports of people waiting as long as 2 HOURS to get inside for lunch! Henry waited for what felt like an eternity for Perry to get there, and in fact, got through the endless line, into the restaurant, and was placing their lunch order when Perry finally arrived. Perry explained that Guest Services had been a nightmare, and SO busy, and Henry believed him – after all, as mentioned earlier, the parks had been beyond packed the entire week. The two ended up having a wonderful lunch (HIGHLY recommended to anyone visiting the Magic Kingdom – well worth the wait!), and then decided they would get fast passes for the new “Little Mermaid” ride, also in the new Fantasyland extension. They both had been eager to see the new park extension, and spending the afternoon exploring it (post Castle tour, of course), made complete sense to Henry. He never suspected that Perry’s long delay had to do with the upcoming proposal, and that while separated that morning, Perry had been flying through all of the final preparations, nor did he suspect that Perry knew full well that the rest of the day was already planned, and that they would not actually get near the “Little Mermaid” ride.

After lunch, there was about a half hour to kill prior to the start of the Castle tour, so Perry suggested they walk over to the Liberty Square section, which is just around the corner from the castle. They did a little window shopping, and then spotted a wonderful covered porch with two huge rocking chairs, which were just being vacated by two women who had been sitting there enjoying the much needed shade on that very hot day. Henry grabbed Perry and pulled him up onto the porch so they could get off their feet and relax there while waiting for the appointed tour time. Then all of a sudden, a trumpet player appeared in the courtyard in front of them, and started playing some wonderful Dixieland music. He was suddenly joined by a trombonist, who seemed to have come out of thin air. One by one, more and more musicians joined the growing group, and before they knew it, Henry and Perry had ringside seats for an unexpected Disney Marching Band street performance! Not one to miss an opportunity to give Perry a hard time, he quickly grabbed Perry’s hand and said “This is perfect! Yes! Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!!”. Henry, of course, found his joke very amusing… Perry, on the other hand, knew he was about 20 minutes from the REAL proposal, and was nervous enough as it was, without Henry’s teasing. Henry would like to say here, for the record, that he wishes he was a good enough person to be sorry for teasing poor Perry like that, but alas, it was too much fun and the memory still makes him laugh, so, we are sorry to report that Henry only feels slightly bad for the teasing that close to the actual proposal.

Well, finally it was time to go to the Castle Tour. So the two headed to the appointed meeting place in an area behind Cinderella’s Castle, and waited. And waited… and WAITED… but no tour guide! Perry started to get upset, worrying that Guest Services had somehow made a mistake about the tour, and stressing that they had forgotten to schedule a tour guide. Finally, Perry told Henry that he had no choice but to go into the Castle and make a call to Guest Services. Of course, as Henry is not a cast member, he couldn’t go with Perry, and had to keep himself busy sitting in the courtyard behind the castle, surrounded by a sea of “Bibbity Bobbity Boutique” victims. For those that don’t know, Disney has a wonderful service they provide for little girls (at a bargain price of several hundred dollars per child), in which they tart up little girls with “Princess” hairstyles, makeup, jewelry and tiara’s. Sadly, the result is rarely a little a girl that looks like a Disney princess, but something more like a Honey Boo Boo reject, dripping in glitter and looking like they’re ready for an interview for a job at Hooters! In all fairness, there are some little girls and parents with taste who choose one of the more classic styles offered by the B.B. Boutique, and so a few little girls actually were quite adorable. But, nonetheless, after an hour or so of being primped, prodded, and having their hair pulled back so tight that Joan Rivers would endorse it as a face lift, most of the little girls coming out of the B.B. Boutique have adapted the personality of a spiteful banshee! So there sat Henry, surrounded by this sea of little monsters (and the occasional adorable child), wondering where in the world Perry had gone. And then suddenly a HUGE gate was shut in the castle, cutting off the entire center from the area where Henry was sitting, which also meant cutting off access to the backstage area where Perry had disappeared!

Now, the very resourceful and clever Perry, not to be outdone by Henry’s proposal, was in full command of the situation. There was, in fact, NO Castle Tour planned! The wait for the missing guide was also a ruse. Perry had planned the proposal for right after the Castle Stage show, which was at that very moment going on in the front of the Castle. He had planned it that way, so that the characters from the stage show could be there for the proposal, which would take place in the center of the Castle, which had just been closed off by the huge gate. So, unbeknownst to Henry, once that huge gate closed, there was a flurry of activity going on, as Perry set up the pedestal holding an enormous vase of long stemmed red roses. But also going on behind that gate was a scene that Perry had never anticipated or planned for. Because, you see, this was not just Valentine’s Week at Disneyworld, this was also the week that “Live with Kelly & Michael” would be taping live shows from the parks! And today was, you guessed it, the Magic Kingdom Day! Which, of course, meant that all schedules were pushed back on parades and shows, to accommodate the taping of “Kelly & Michael”. So the proposal, which had been expertly planned and timed, was now going to be pushed back until the end of the now delayed Castle show. Which also meant that Mr. Impatient was left sitting in Bibbity Bobbity hell for a VERY long time… (but we’ll get back to Henry in a minute…)

Meanwhile, backstage, Perry knew there was nothing that could be done about the delay. Henry would just have to wait, and if he figured out that this was the proposal, then so be it! By this time, Perry was worn out from the Disney bureaucratic roadblocks, and the endless changes to his proposal script, and just wanted to get it over with. Little did he know that there was more trouble in store… because, as he waited for the now delayed Castle show to finish, so that his decoy could go out and get Henry to bring him into the now private center of the Castle, he was approached by a very ornery and unpleasant Guest Services guide who demanded to know what was going on. Perry explained that he was about to propose. But instead of getting the good wishes and support he would expect from a fellow Disney cast member, he instead was informed that he would have to move out of the way, because she had a tour coming through! And not just any tour, no… this was (drumroll): Kelly’s and Michael’s families, that were on a private tour of the Magic Kingdom. She explained that the proposal was in the way of the tour, and that Perry would need to move it, as she had finalized plans for the tour that morning. Perry, who was about at his wit’s end by this time, explained that his 6 MONTHS of notice and planning should trump her 6 hours of planning. And although he managed to get her to back down and agree to hold Kelly and Michael’s families inside the Castle rooms until after the proposal, she made it very clear how inconvenient this whole thing was to her and her guests.

Now, let’s pop back out to Henry, sitting in the courtyard. By this time, he was pretty certain that the proposal was going to take place during the Castle tour. And he was honestly feeling terribly that poor Perry had been gone so long, because clearly there was an issue with the tour guide, and he honestly wanted the proposal to be everything Perry wanted it to be. For him, it wouldn’t have mattered how it happened, because the mere fact that it was Perry putting a ring on his finger is what made it perfect. But he knows how hard Perry works to make things perfect for the people he cares about, and he knows how organized Perry is, and how much he prides himself on things running without a hitch. On this all important day, Henry wanted nothing more than for everything to run perfectly for Perry. Of course, that didn’t include letting his Mother, his sister Katie, his best friend McKenzie and lifelong friend, Karen, off the hook. He knew that all four would have been in contact with Perry about the proposal, and that all four would know exactly when the proposal was going to be. So to pass the time, he started texting them all with messages of “I’m sitting here waiting for my proposal” and other similar sentiments. To which they all immediately responded with assurances that this was indeed NOT the day of the proposal. They all tried valiantly to throw him off the track, but Henry would have none of it, and continued with messages like “do you think I’ll like the ring?”. After all, if Henry was to be tortured by a sea of honey boo boo’s, then surely the people closest to him should have to endure a little torture of their own, right?

And then he noticed a small private tour group heading into the Castle. “That must be OUR tour!” he thought to himself. Of course, you realize as you read this, that not only was this NOT Henry and Perry’s tour group, but was, in fact, Kelly and Michael’s families, about to be herded into the interior of the castle. He tried to text Perry, but got no answer, figuring that the signal inside the Castle must be bad. So he contemplated stopping the tour guide to explain who he was and why he was there, after all, how many Castle Tours could there be at this exact time of day? Thankfully for all involved, Henry decided to not approach the tour guide and instead continued to wait amidst the spritely beauty pageant clones who were still surrounding him, covering him in clouds of endless glitter.

And still, no Perry. By this time, Henry had been waiting nearly 45 minutes. He honestly wasn’t that concerned for himself, as he had his phone and texting torture to amuse himself with, but he was concerned about how badly Perry must be feeling, when trying to plan this proposal and having something go so obviously wrong with it. So, what would a normal guy do in this scenario, when worrying about the one he loves? As we’ve established already, we’re not dealing with a normal guy – we’re talking about Henry…. And what does Henry do when left with nothing to do  for any length of time? He comes up with some form of mischievous entertainment for himself. And it was at that moment that inspiration struck! Knowing that his Mother, sister, McKenzie and Karen were all waiting with baited breath to hear about the proposal, he decided that the only right and proper thing to do, would be to start texting them to tell them that he was angry that Perry had left him alone for that long, and was promptly leaving the park! Now, of course, Henry wasn’t going anywhere! He would have waited 10 hours with the Bibbity Bobbity’s, and inhaled enough glitter to decorate a San Francisco gay pride parade if it meant Perry having the proposal of his dreams. But, as he had not heard from Perry, assuming that the cell signal was bad inside the Castle, he figured he was safe in playing a bit of a joke on the four girls waiting to hear the updates. So he started with messages saying how angry he was that Perry had left him sitting that long. To which, he received numerous admonishments from the girls to be patient and give Perry time to figure out the botched tour. So, when that wasn’t enough to entertain himself, he started updating the girls with his fake exit from the park. The poor girls got texts that included things like “I just left the Castle. Going back to the Hotel. SO pissed!”. The “exit” updates continued, trying to see how riled he could get them. They, of course, all came through with flying colors, trying to coax Henry back to the Castle, to give poor Perry a second chance, etc.  But Henry kept up the charade, much to his amusement, which helped to pass the time, as he sat there waiting. What he didn’t realize, was that Perry did indeed have cell service inside the Castle. As a matter of fact, Perry had very GOOD cell service, and in the midst of being given a hard time by the nasty Guest Services Manager, and given a hard time by another manager who was more concerned about getting this proposal over with, than with the beautiful event that was to take place once the Castle show was over, Perry was also getting texts from the victims of Henry’s little joke, saying things like “Henry’s leaving! He thinks you abandoned him and he’s upset!”.

For the record, Henry does feel a little bit badly about that part! He only meant to torture his Mother, sister, McKenzie and Karen… but really didn’t want to add stress to poor Perry’s experience – whatever that was, as Henry still had no clue how the proposal would actually play out!

Finally, the Castle show ended, and it was “go time!” A Disney cast member came out of the little door in the huge castle gate, saw Henry sitting there in a cloud of fairy sparkle dust, and approached him. “Are you Henry?”, said the smiling girl? He assured her that he was, and his heart started to beat a little more powerfully as he realized he may be about to get his proposal! What he forgot to do before following the girl into the door of the gate, was to let the girls know that he was just kidding and hadn’t left the park! Whoops! (He would pay for that later, and probably still hasn’t been forgiven, truth be told!)

So, into the small door of the gate they went, and standing there in the middle of the now (almost) empty room, was a smiling Perry, standing next to a beautifully decorated vase on a gorgeous pedestal, holding four long stemmed roses. Henry thought “this is PERFECT!” Right here surrounded by these amazing famous mosaics depicting the story of Cinderella, his own Prince Charming was about to put a ring on his finger! Henry was led over to a place in front of Perry, as Perry began his proposal. The only tiny glitch in this part of the fairy tale, was the evil Disney Manager who was standing directly in Henry’s line of vision who was making a rather dramatic point of raising his watch up to his face, repeatedly, sending the silent message of “hurry up!”. Noticing this, Henry didn’t want Perry to miss out on a second of his planned proposal, and was worried that the not-so-subtle hints from the manager meant that any second he might pull the plug on the whole thing and end it before Perry had even finished whatever it was he had planned to say. And remember, at this point, Henry had no idea about the issue with the Kelly and Michael family tour guide! But nevertheless, he was worried that Perry would be cut short, so even before Perry asked a question, in a bit of nervous energy, Henry started blurting out “Yes! Yes!”. Perry had a whole script planned, and he was determined to get through it. So he handed Henry a single red rose with every word: “Henry Walcott Farnam the 4^th”, and then he got down on his knee and said some of the most beautiful words Henry has ever heard, which ended with the presentation of the most beautiful ring Henry had ever seen and words “Will you marry me?”

Well, the excitement of that question, the beautiful ring (and sadly, the overt watch checking of the manager), Henry pulled Perry up from his bended knee and gave him the world’s biggest hug, as he gushed as many versions of “Yes” as he could. But as if that wasn’t enough, in this perfect and beautiful setting, Perry then announced “And there are some friends who are here to celebrate with you”. Whereupon a door opened and out walked Snow White and her Prince, Cinderella and her Prince, Peter Pan and Wendy, and, of course, Henry’s favorite: Sleeping Beauty and her Prince! Each one had a hand written card, on which was written a line of dialogue from each of their respective movies that were especially picked for the proposal. As each character came out, they handed Henry their respective cards and a single red rose. By the time they were all out, the vase was now complete with it’s full dozen of long stemmed red roses.

Originally, Perry had planned on each of the characters saying the line of dialogue to Henry, as each line had been pulled directly from their respective Disney films, and so Perry thought that would surely get the o.k. from the Disney managers. But what Henry would find out later, was that Perry was told that no, the characters could not be told what to say, because that would mean they were being scripted, which would require them to be under an Actor’s Equity contract. As a member of Actor’s Equity, and knowing that these character performers are encouraged to interact with Disney guests at parks using appropriate dialogue from their films, Henry and Perry both found the decision to deny Perry’s request to have the characters speak these lines of love to be a bit extreme. Especially since Perry knew most of the performers who were there that day, and had, in fact, performed with some of them for many years! So he knew that any one of them would have been thrilled to say the lines from their movies that Perry had hand picked for the day. But as fate sometimes intervenes and gives us something even better, the cards that they all handed to Henry that day, have become prized possessions. And they mean even more because one of the things that Perry had been rushing to do that morning (as Henry waited in line at the restaurant), was to hand write out each of the five cards, as he was only informed that morning that the characters would not be allowed to speak! And as much stress as that added onto an already stressful day of planning such a big proposal, Henry cherishes those handwritten cards and wouldn’t trade them for spoken dialogue for all the clotted cream in Britain! (Sorry for the adjustment on that saying, but as Henry doesn’t care for tea, he’s happy to leave all the tea in China, and so that particular phrase would not have had the right weight! Whereas clotted cream, on the other hand… mmmmm)

The next step in the program was for Perry to explain the design of the ring that he had created for Henry. Using the ring Henry designed for Perry as a starting point, he knew that he wanted to do Henry’s sapphire in the center of the ring (similar to the emerald at the center of Perry’s ring), and have it flanked by two diamonds, to match the layout of those three focal point gems on Perry’s ring. But instead of the Celtic knot design that Henry had chosen for the body of the ring, Perry knew that the ring designed for Henry had to include music in some way, as music is such a huge part of Henry’s (and Perry’s) life. So each of the flanking diamonds were actually enclosed within the bottom curl of two treble clefs, and as you followed the design of the ring around, you see that it’s actually a bar of music, starting with the time signature of ¾ time, and followed by the bars of the treble clef. And on the bars of the music, as you follow it around, are the notes of the last line from Sleeping Beauty’s love song “Once Upon a Dream”, one of Henry’s favorite songs, and the embodiment of the dream he had always had about one day finding Perry; each quarter note was a tiny emerald, which tied in with the theme of Perry’s ring, allowing for both of their favorite colors to be represented in both engagement rings. And even though they are different in design, there are so many wonderful similarities, that the two rings are as much a matched set as Henry and Perry themselves.

So, now with a beautiful new ring on his finger, his arm around the only Prince Charming he would ever want, surrounded by favorite Disney characters, Henry was (maybe for the first time in his life) at a loss for words, being completely bowled over by the whole experience. Perry told Aurora that she was Henry’s favorite Princess, and as much as he did want to gush over her (she is, after all, the one girl who, had she been real, might have been able to win Henry’s heart!), that pesky manager was starting to check his watch so violently, our newly engaged couple were afraid he might dislocate his arm! So now, when in the midst of his perfect engagement, surrounded by characters he adored, wanting to give them all hugs and jump up and down like a demented cheerleader on red bull, he instead was virtually silent, except to say “thank you for being here… I love all of you”.

And then they all filed out… leaving Henry to wonder “did I show enough excitement?” “Did those performers have any idea how happy I was, in spite of my composed and quiet demeanor?” and most importantly: “did PERRY realize how unbelievably happy and in love I was with my perfect Disney proposal?”. As they picked up the huge vase of long stemmed roses and started to head back out into the park, accompanied by Perry’s wonderful accomplice in the planning of this whole extravaganza, Meg Roebke, Henry made a point to tell the two just how much he loved the proposal, and how happy he was.

As for the ring, Henry’s actions spoke louder than words. He kept staring at it and smiling. He couldn’t stop looking at it, which continued on through the rest of the day and into the night. Even to this day, you can often catch Henry staring down at his beautiful ring with admiration and love in his eyes.

As the three continued to walk, Perry explained that the plans to explore the new Fantasyland expansion and ride the “Little Mermaid” ride were all a ruse. That, in fact, they had an entire day planned, and that the first stop was back to the resort to drop off the flowers and then off for a quick run to Downtown Disney in search of Cufflinks. Henry was told that his Tuxedo was waiting in the hotel room, all laid out, ready to be put on for their night out, but in light of Perry’s concerns that Henry would notice the missing cufflinks, they couldn’t get dressed for dinner until they bought some new ones. And besides, wouldn’t it be fun to buy a couple of sets of Disney cufflinks as a souvenir of this special day? Maybe some with their favorite characters? Maybe a set with Mickey? The choices would surely be many! Perry explained that once they were dressed, that they would be going to the famous “Victoria & Albert’s” at the Grand Floridian for dinner. Now, for those that don’t know, Victoria & Albert’s is the most exclusive and most special restaurant in all of Disneyworld. This isn’t just a meal, this is a full experience. A 7 course meal, with a new menu created by the Chef each day, so that you’ll never have the same meal twice at the restaurant. Each course is a taste experience, and with the added wine pairing for each course, a meal at Victoria & Albert’s is something you’ll always remember. (So is the amount of the check!)

But first, they needed to get back to the resort, so they quickly jumped onto the shuttle back to the parking lot. (Perry was smart enough to drive to Magic Kingdom that day, knowing that they’d need to get back quickly to the resort and would also have the addition of the huge vase of flowers to carry back). It was on the shuttle that Henry suddenly realized that he had left his Mother, his sister, McKenzie and Karen all hanging, wondering if he had, indeed stormed out of the park! He admitted his little scheme to Perry, and Perry filled him in on his side of the story, which included getting the panicked messages from the girls that Henry was angry and leaving! He asked Perry if he had believed that he was actually leaving when he read those texts, and Perry assured him that he knew him well enough to know that he was just being his typical instigating little bugger. And besides, with all of the drama going on behind the scenes as he fought his way through the nonsense of the Disney managers, to try to preserve what he was allowed to have for the proposal, he figured that if Henry had walked out in a huff, that he deserved to miss Sleeping Beauty at his proposal!

But Henry assured Perry that he’d have waited another four lifetimes in that courtyard, if it meant being there for Perry’s proposal.

So, back to the resort they went, and then on to Downtown Disney in search of cufflinks. As we mentioned earlier, Disney sells virtually everything you could ever imagine buying (and loads of things that you never EVER imagined buying!)… that is, except for Disney cufflinks! There was a non-Disney store in the Downtown Disney area, that did carry a couple of sets of extremely ugly (and extremely expensive) cufflinks (which the two passed on, as they weren’t anything either would ever wear again). But in terms of Disney merchandise? Nope! Nada! Zip! Every other kind of jewelry for men, women, children, dogs, cats and a myriad of other creatures. But no cufflinks. Not even a simple pair of Mickey ears cufflinks! To say the two were surprised was an understatement! But Henry and Perry are nothing, if not resourceful! And they found that there was a huge section of charms for little girl’s charm bracelets. They had charms in every character and every type imaginable. And they also had them in every letter of alphabet, each letter covered in color rhinestones. They were tiny little things, but Henry suggested that they get four “H’s” and four “P’s”, and, using the attached clips, clip an “H” to a “P” and create a cufflink. In theory it was a very good idea! As they walked through the Grand Floridian later, on their way up to Victoria & Albert’s, they realized that the “P’s” were actually too small to stay in place, and kept slipping through the holes in the cuff. Henry couldn’t resist teasing Perry that it wasn’t his “H” that was causing the problem, and the loose cuffs! (Ahh that Henry… Perry will no doubt be quite ready for children, considering the overgrown child he’s about to marry!)

Well, let’s suffice it to say that the rest of the evening was truly magical. Victoria & Albert’s did not disappoint. (Neither did the over $600 bill!!) The staff was wonderful about the engagement and really helped the two celebrate in style, complete with a delicious champagne toast. By the time they were back at the resort and settling in for their last night together (Henry would leave for home the next day, with Perry following the next week after he got in another set of work hours), the two were more in love than they ever had been. And the next chapter in their real life fairy tale would now begin… for the next step would be planning the wedding.

And that’s where you all come in…