Andy: At my previous office building I had a window seat that looked out on Seattle. One day, I was sitting there thinking about how I was going to ask Tracy to marry me. I knew it couldn't be an ordinary proposal, because she deserved it, but also because I had made her wait so long. I remember looking out and thinking how someone in the Space Needle was probably up there looking through the viewfinder and could see me. And the idea just clicked.
So the next weeks were filled with ring shopping with my family, a trip to ask her family for their permission, and scoping out the scene of the engagement.
Tracy: The day of our engagement, I had an install at a client's house for work. It was only set to be a couple hours long, but of course, I was there until late into the afternoon. Once it was wrapped up, I rushed home and got ready as quickly as I could. Andy told me that a friend of his had given him VIP tickets to the Space Needle and asked if I wanted to do that before dinner. Anyone who knows Andy knows that he's always getting tickets to random events. A lot of people asked me if I knew it was coming and I always have the same answer. I knew it was coming, just like I knew it was coming on my 30th birthday when he threw me an amazing party, or when he took me to Vegas as a birthday gift, or when he took me to Victoria, BC for our anniversary. The last 8 months before we were engaged, I thought it was coming every weekend.
Andy: Two days before, I had to go up to the Space Needle alone and scope out the scene. I had to find out which viewfinder would make it possible to see our downtown rooftop and I also had to determine how big the sign asking her to marry me would have to be. I knew Tracy's family, especially her nephew, had to be apart of it; so I also had to coordinate their trip up.
The day of proposal, I got up early because I couldn’t sleep. I felt so anxious and had so many things I had to coordinate to make the day perfect. Mostly, I just really didn’t want Tracy to find out what was going down.
In true Andy fashion I was running late for everything, but luckily Tracy’s family was in town and were super helpful. Tracy finally got home and we made our way to the Space Needle.
Tracy: Andy and I got up to the top of the Space Needle and made our way around the viewfinders. Honestly, everything at this point just happened so fast. He kept having to go to the bathroom and take phone calls from work, so I just enjoyed a glass of wine while waiting for him. Finally, he pulled me over and asked if I thought we would be able to see our rooftop through the viewfinder. We tried a couple times, and I urged us to just give up as “I had been on our rooftop a million times”. He insisted I try one more time and with a little guidance I looked through to see my mom, sister, and nephew jumping on our rooftop holding signs that said, “Tracy, Will You Marry Me?” I was honestly so shocked to see them. I started to realize that something big was happening but had NO idea that they were going to be any part of it. I turned around to see Andy on one knee and everyone looking at us. He asked me to marry him and pulled out an amazing ring. I don’t really remember any of the words that were said, but I remember hugging him in shock.
Andy: I have no idea what I said to her, but I knew she was happy based on the smile she had on her face and her tears. We hugged and just kept stopping to look at each other. Finally, she looked back through the viewfinder and we realized that her family was still holding up the signs and jumping up and down! I gave them a call and let them know that the plan had been fully executed, and her sister’s first words were, “I’m so happy. My arms!”
Tracy: We ended the day with an amazing dinner on the water. We later went up to our hotel that Andy had set up with rose petals and champagne. We invited Tracy and Kiesha over to the hotel bar later that evening to have a few celebratory drinks with us. I remember waking up in the morning and feeling just so, so happy. We went to brunch at the hotel with my family and it made the whole experience complete. He truly made me feel so special and it was the proposal a proposal that girls dream of. It truly exceeded what I had been daydreaming about for so long.