‘Hotel staff used 200 photos of us to spell out my proposal’
Singer-songwriter Conor McGinty (23) lives in Londonderry with his fiancee, Aisling Deane, and their five-week-old son, Daire. He says:
Iwas in London in 2015 for the producer auditions of X Factor. I came home that night and went to a regular gig I do in a pub in Derry. I was tired that night and initially wasn’t going to do it, but I went in the end.
Aisling was sitting in front of me and I started chatting to her. Two nights later I was playing at another bar and she was there too. Neither of us were looking for anything as we had both come out of relationships, but it was my dad who really got us together. He used my phone to text her and invite her to gigs.
We met about two years ago now but it only took a couple of months before I realised she was the one for me.
It was January this year when we got engaged. I had gotten through X Factor to the six-chair challenge, but I was eliminated, so I was back in Derry afterwards gigging around. The Lough Erne Hotel in Co Fermanagh seemed to be a good spot, so I got in touch with the hotel and told them what I wanted them to do.
I got over 200 photographs of us together printed out and enlisted the help of her friend to help me pick an engagement ring. When we got to Lough Erne I passed the photos over to the staff and we went for dinner.
While we were eating, the staff went up to our suite and left a trail of rose petals through to the bedroom, where they used the photos to spell out ‘Will you marry me?’.
I was so nervous the whole way through dinner — I was worried that Aisling would want to go up to the room to get something. The starters came out really quickly and then the main course, but the dessert took ages because the staff were still sorting out the room and trying to delay us. The whole time my phone was going mad with texts from friends and family. I had to take Aisling off my Facebook page because I was scared someone would give the game away.
But it all worked out great. We walked into the room and saw the photos. Then she turned around to find me on one knee with the ring. Thankfully she said yes. We’re not planning to get married until Daire is about four so he can take part in the wedding, but we have started planning it.
People tend to go out for a long time before they get engaged these days, but when you know, you know.
I knew that I wanted to marry Aisling really early on, so it didn’t make much sense for me to wait to propose.”
Stay-at-home mum Aisling (25) says:
Ihad the shock of my life when Conor proposed — I didn’t have a clue. The whole thing was brilliant, though, and it looked fantastic. It took me a couple of minutes to be able to say yes because I was crying so hard.
It was great that he got my friend to help choose the ring, and I was really pleased with the result.
I don’t think it matters how long people are together before they get engaged — when you want to be together that’s all that counts.”
It worked out great — she turned around to find me on one knee with the ring