Wedding Blog
Mr. Cherry Pie’s family has an “inholding” in Glacier National Park on Lake McDonald, a remnant of the time when lucky folk could purchase property on parkland. He’s been visiting the Cherry family house since he was a wee lad and we’ve been taking yearly trips there since we started dating. We usually head out for nine days in either July, August, or September, after the snow has cleared the passes so we can get in some serious mountaineering.
(Mr. Cherry Pie near the summit of Mt. Gould. I hated that mountain.)
It’s an immensely special place for us, not just because we spend all summer training for the hikes, climbs, and backpacking trips, but because it’s the place where we got to know each other. It’s been a place for us to escape to, where we can be free of the world to concentrate on what really matters.
The first time we visited GNP together was in July of 2000, before I went away to college. We didn’t know if we’d be able to make it through the year but we were immensely infatuated with each other. Because we started dating as students (i.e. living at home under the eye of parents) Glacier was the first place that really let us be together to focus on what our feelings meant. Before we returned home, we swore we’d make the trip again, no matter what happened. On the drive home, we had to pull the car over before we’d even left the park because we were both crying so hard.
The good news is that we’ve been back every year since, and with a multitude of good friends. Each trip has brought new surprises. Our best friends were engaged in the park in 2004 (they married a year later in Oregon). We were engaged on a 3-day trip through the Glacier backcountry in August of 2006.
Up next: Getting engaged while backpacking means being very paranoid about your new ring!
Did the location of your engagement have a special meaning to you?
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Share this post: Tales of a Wilderness Engagement - Part 1
FI asked me to marry him (officially - I knew it was coming since we picked out the ring together) on a weekend away, staying in the fabulous old hotel that his parents stayed at on their wedding night. His dad was in the service when they married, so it was really their only honeymoon. We had heard the story of their wedding night dozens of times in the past few months, as his dad had Alzheimers, and lived mostly in the past. The location for the proposal was especially poignant because his father passed away three weeks before he asked me to marry him.
My FI proposed by the river at my parent’s cabin in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. It’s a beautiful location that is steeped in childhood memories. I think he was going to propose somewhere else, but I’m glad that he chose the location he did - he even got his knee muddy!
Yes! my proposal was in Paris. As corny as it may sound to some people. It took a lot for Mr Buttah to A. get on a plane to go over water B. It showed he really did want to make it special for us C. The ring was exactly what I wanted so he really had listened when I dropped a hint or two. Oh and he got down on his knee in the grass! he is allergic to grass! so freaking sweet!
yup……my fh proposed at the exact restuarant, at the exact table as our first date over nearly 5 years ago. he also had a friend of our who is a violist play a song that is very special to us…..
I don’t have a special place to share of where we got engaged (ours was, uh-hum, low-key but perfectly in the moment)-
but I just wanted to say a) totally jealous of Mr. Cherry Pie’s family’s house inside GNP and b) totally want to hear more mountain stories–my FI is a geek about mountaineering, and sometimes I think he’d love to tie the knot on a summit somewhere…
Mr. Tiramisu proposed on a boat, in the same spot in the river where he had first told me he loved me, almost 6 years earlier. It was perfect!
our story is very similar… a mountains story =)
my FI’s family owns a ranch in Jackson Hole, WY, which i’ve visited w/ his family for the past 4 years… well this year my parents and his sis-in-law’s parents came with us (so i wouldn’t totally catch on). the ranch sits right near the base of the Teton Mnts. it’s BEAUTIFUL, and i love it as he does, it really is a special trip i look forward to each year… after a dinner he prepared for the whole family he asked me to help him outside to light a bonfire at sunset. the plan was to get it started for everyone to come out to make s’mores.
when we got to the pit, he was kneeling and moving the wood into it and pulled out a polished rock (much like the rocks that make up the fire pit) which was engraved with “will you marry me” on it…. and the rest is history… and we did eventually make our s’mores with the family!
Mr. Peng proposed to me where I was born (Carmel, Ca) 
So I saw the same view on the day I was born as I did when we got engaged. We also always planned to marry there, but its a semi difficult place to get to for people outside of California (fly then 2-3 hour drive) and since his family is from Minnesota, we felt bad making them do that, so we planned the wedding in a more (well slightly more) airport friendly place. But we will spend many many anniversaries in the Monterey area for the rest of our lives!
My FI proposed in rural southwest France, in a tiny town we had visited 4 years earlier while I was there doing research. It’s the “world capital of prehistory” (I’m an archaeologist-DORK!), and he said he wanted to propose someplace that had lots of history (100,000 years of it!), and someplace he knew would still be there in 50 years so we could go back and take our kids. It was so lovely that he’d thought that much about it, and really touching for him to pick a place that meant so much to me, and us.
We got engaged while backpacking as well. We were hiking through the Shining Rock wilderness (love the irony) and had just reached the top of the big quartz rock around sunset and my FI proposed as the sun went down with a view over the mountains.
I got engaged on a hike as well during the fall in New England on top of a mountain. I made the FI put the ring away after I tried it on because we had to climb down rocks to get to the car. But as soon as we got to the bottom it went right back on my finger!!!
My husband proposed the first night of a weekend trip to our favorite local (if you call a 4 hour drive local) ski resort We love love love when winter arrives and we get to snowboard. We’ve both spent so much time as this resort throughout our lives (before we even met) and since - so it was special to get engaged there. (plus we’re so obsessed with snowboarding it really represents who we are) It was also nice to soak it in for an entire weekend secluded there. (no cell phone service) We didn’t start calling people until Sunday on our way home. Of course my mom already knew and had been blabbing!
To add to the coolness - my best friend is planning to get married up there this summer. In the actual house we rent (with 25 of our closest friends) every winter. Our trips every winter always include friends of friends of friends - and it was there 3 years ago where we got to know her fiance. They didn’t start dating til a year later - but that’s where it all started. I’m excited we’ll both share very special memories there. And I’m sure each year more special memories will be made!!
My Hub and I got engaged on the first night of a cruise to Mexico. It was lovely and wonderful…and then we went scuba diving…I was SOOOOO paranoid and swam with a closed fist the whole time. I was afraid it was going to jump off and get lost in the middle of the ocean somewhere, never to be retrieved, which would’ve been especailly sad, since hub designed the ring himself and had it made. In the end though I made it home with the ring, safe and sound
We got engaged while on vacation in Maine. He could not have picked a more appropriate location.
Hello Miss Cherrie Pie - although we didn’t get engaged outdoors - we always spent all our free time pre-wed outdoors hiking, enjoying nature & photographing it all. Stellar pic of the Mr. Cherry, but I can see why you hated that mountain! Whoa.
So Glacier National Park & the lake really mean a huge amount in my life. It never, ever has left my mind since my first visit, ok….yikes….hate to admit…over 35 years ago! (I am in the business as a NJ wedding musician - and am very happily married 20 years this year - October 1st - I would say he’s “Mr. Pecan Pie”! Stellar at making those treats!)
My parents instilled the love for the outdoors during many trips during the whole month of August. Glacier is in my heart & soul & I can’t wait to take my boys there soon. Jealous! And so happy for you both!
We survived a traveling/weekends relationship/engagement over a period of two years - by plane, by car, never home on weekends, always somewhere with him. Mr. Pecan Pie & I always have had separate interests, separate careers, but our love of the water & surfing & hiking & food has always brought us close in our free time.
It’s good to be separate a bit before & after you tie the knot. Keeps the time together sweeter! Wishing you both love, & peace as you prepare for your great day & life together!
First, I hiked in GNP 2 summers ago with my fiance and I am SO jealous of your inholding on Lake McDonald. That park is gorgeous and amazing and we can’t wait to go back some day.
I was also propsed to while hiking, and terribly nervous about the ring too! We were on North Manitou Island in Lake Michigan and I wore it on the walk back to our campsite (we had hiked a mile to watch the sunset where he proposed) and that night, but I took it off during the day while we hiked. I was so worried about it too, but it’s still here with me.
Sweet story, Miss Cherry Pie! My friend is getting married at GNP this summer, right after my wedding! Perfect excuse to extend our honeymoon and stop by GNP! I can’t wait to see the beauty for myself!
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Miss Cherry Pie, Seattle/Polebridge, Montana
Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing Communications Specialist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Nurse Practitioner
Engagement Date: August 26, 2006
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: April 1, 2008
Venue: A tiny town just outside of Glacier National Park
About Me: I think of life as a journey and I love the places it's taking me! I went to school to study Magazine Journalism, ended up with a second major in Japanese language, and now work at a company that makes software for libraries. I love writing, computers, photography, and the great outdoors. I spend most of my time playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band or geeking out online with Mr. Cherry Pie. I'm happiest when I'm on the road, especially traveling abroad, or just nesting quietly at home with my sweetie, who is a fabulous cook and bakes a delicious rendition of a certain cherry-filled dessert!
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