Introducing the newly engaged Priscilla and Samuel. Born and raised in Brazil, Priscilla decided to move to Australia to complete her Doctorate at the University of Newcastle three years ago. Sam grew up in Newcastle but moved to Perth to study and work.
They met in Perth in 2019 when Priscilla was offered the opportunity to spend a few months in Perth for work. One of Priscilla’s friends (who was Sam’s close family friend) suggested that Sam could give her a tour of Perth.
Sam planned the perfect ‘first impressions’ tour of the region, starting at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in the Swan Valley and ending at the food market in South Fremantle at sunset.
Sam was originally planning on proposing in Canberra at the National Arboretum at sunset at the start of a getaway together, however, with the recent Covid outbreak, traveling to Canberra was difficult.
They changed their holiday plans to stay closer to Newcastle with a couple of days in the Hunter Valley, so Sam had to come up with another plan! He started looking for a romantic proposal spot that they could visit for years to come.
After a lot of researching and some support from their hotel reception, they went for a drive around the Hunter Valley and ended up at Mount Bright lookout with a spectacular view over the Pokolbin region.
When they got out of the car, Sam asked in his limited Portuguese “you…marry…” and before he even had a chance to get on one knee Priscilla was already saying “yes!” in tears.
What made the whole proposal even more memorable is the planning Sam had to do to make the proposal perfect. Firstly, under the guise of planning Priscilla’s birthday present, Sam had asked her to give him the contact details for her parents in Brazil.
He called them, and, with some translating, let them know that he would be proposing during their holiday, which they were thrilled about.
At Whitakers we also played a key role in their proposal. One weekend, Sam pretended to go shopping with his mother but went out instead to choose the engagement ring. After picking the perfect style, the next question was what Priscilla’s ring size was (which, of course, he had no idea!). So, his whole family got involved in a ‘plot’ to find out her ring size. Then one afternoon, Sam’s mum and sister invited her to come along for coffee in Darby street.
Sam’s sister had to get her ring polished for her anniversary, so they stopped in at Whitakers first. When they all went in, they were all offered to get their rings polished (which had been previously arranged with the staff). It did take some persuading, but Priscilla ended up agreeing and they took the ring she was wearing and were able to measure it to get her size.
Everyone was very good at hiding things from Priscilla as she was very surprised when it all happened! After all the planning, it was the perfect proposal story that they look forward to telling their kids about and visiting their special engagement spot in the Hunter Valley again.