From locking eyes at the Euros final to a surprise proposal adorned with beautiful flowers and accompanied by three violinists, discover the Alice and Sam Vanderpump engagement story.
The story
Sam POV: It was something out of a movie, it was Alice’s Birthday and the Euros football final. We had both gone with friends to watch the match at an outdoor viewing venue, it was packed. Over a 1000 people in the venue. But for both of us the only person we were looking at was each other. We would keep looking over at each other and locking eyes. So much so that we would tell our friends we think the other is staring. Finally, I plucked up the courage to go over and speak to Alice, I thought it was going well, I was making jokes and then she seemed to be laughing, but then she just started insulting me… so I backed off a little before I embarrassed myself, to which Alice rushed over to my best friend and said I didn’t mean to upset Sam, I’m just really bad at flirting.
But, it was the first date which was vital! I knew I couldn’t ask Alice out on a normal date so I told her it was the sumo wrestling world championship final and I had scored us front row tickets, to her disappointment she would arrive to find me sitting at a bar and she would have listen to my awful humour for the rest of the evening, in a bar with no one else in it…(I would like to pretend I planned it being empty, but I didn’t).
Alice POV: It was my birthday and coincidentally England was playing in euros final, so a friend and I headed to urban oasis to watch the game. Sam was sat a table away from me and every time I turned around we would end up gazing at each other (he likes to tell people I was giving him ‘the eyes’ but in my mind I was having a staring contest with him!) After the game before heading to a mutual friend of ours bar he came over and spoke to me, I must admit my humour can be an acquired taste and I don’t think Sam quite got my jokes straight away. With alcohol fuelled confidence I told his friend I was worried I’d upset him and that I’m bad at flirting. A few days later Sam reached out on instagram and asked what i was up to in a couple of days time. To this I responded ‘it depends what for’. He gave the most surprising and probably best response he could have and said he would take me to the sumo wrestling championship finals, how could I resist that offer! I remember being nervous on the day about what to wear as I didn’t know how to dress appropriately for a normal date AND one that could potentially include watching sumo wrestling. I even asked him an hour before and he kept up the act by saying il have to wait and see. We ended up having a lovely date at a bar called Beverbrook and the rest is history.
Dropping hints
Sam POV: We never discussed getting engaged. As it was so early into our relationship. However there were definitely hints, we would send each other wedding ideas on instagram and talk about the type of ring. However very much alluding to a distant future. So to catch Alice off guard, when I actually proposed. I tried so hard to throw Alice off track, when Alice did a TikTok live someone asked when we would get married (at this point I knew I was proposing soon) so I said not for years, this upset Alice so much that she cried to her mum.
Alice POV: We never specifically discussed getting engaged but Sam told me very early on that I’d either be the love of his life or his biggest heartbreak and I very much knew I’d never feel that way for anyone else. If you scroll down our instagram chat it’s filled with wedding and family related videos, we have always subconsciously been on the same page in regards to everything. His friends would always make jokes and comments about marrying me and every time he would say in a couple of years which is very understandable but i already knew he was the one so in a weird way it was a little upsetting, looking back now I know he was saying it to throw me off the trail, I even spoke to my mum about one time when he said I had more tests to pass.
The proposal
Sam POV: This got very complicated because I got ill again. My goal was to make sure Alice didn’t have a clue, so I said a jewellery brand wanted to do collaboration with us and we were going there to discuss with the owner. Once there I said I need to use the toilet (how romantic) and I went upstairs to their private viewing room And waited for them to bring Alice in. I was waiting in the room for 10 minutes with a photographer, a string trio and a ring. I didn’t think I would be nervous, but I was completely wrong and my heart felt like it had sunk to my stomach. When Alice entered I wanted to speak before I got down on one knee but I was practically speechless, all I could say was Alice you are perfect and will you marry me. She kept me waiting for a few minutes but she said yes.
I knew Alice would want to tell her family straight away. But I didn’t want her to be on her phone the whole time. So I arranged for our close family to meet us for dinner down the road straight after the proposal.
Alice POV: Sam had told me we were going for an early dinner somewhere nice and we had a meeting with a jewellery brand called Hirsh that were interested in doing a collaboration with us before. In the morning I decided to meet my friend Andrea for a catch up and coffee and I remember saying that we were going somewhere later but that Sam was being rather coy about it and that he was making a big deal about wearing a nice outfit that was suitable for the day and evening. She actually said to me I wonder if he’s going to propose, to which I completely shut down saying there’s no way, Sam had made it clear it wouldn’t be for a couple of years. He really did do a good job at throwing me off! An hour or so before we were due to go to what I thought was a meeting about a collaboration I decided to get the broken nail fixed that Sam had branded ‘absolutely disgusting’ the night before…he had never made a big deal about my nails before but yet again, the comment went straight over my head. I can’t imagine the relief he must have felt when I said I was getting them re done. As we walked in Sam said he needed to use the restroom and headed upstairs where he was supposedly going to wait for us for the meeting.
When I walked through the door the room was covered in beautiful flowers and there were 3 violinists playing our song – Die With A Smile by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga. At this point it still hadn’t quite dawned on me what was happening, i remember thinking wow this is extra for a collaboration. It was after a few moments of Sam struggling to get words out that what was happening sunk in. The part that sticks out most to me is when he said he can’t imagine spending the rest of his life without me and that I am perfect in every way. I remember my entire body going numb and emotions completely taking over. I’d never been so happy, and I felt a complete sense of relief that he felt the same way that I had been feeling, especially as I felt something had been weird with him in the few weeks prior. Looking back there were small things, like him turning his location off, being secretive with his phone and the biggest sign… his entire instagram feed being engagement rings, but I still never questioned it. The entire engagement was perfect, he couldn’t have done a better job. For a brief moment I thought AHH I NEED TO TELL MY FAMILY. Sam had arranged both of our families to be waiting for us afterwards for a beautiful dinner to celebrate. He had driven all the way to my dad’s house, waited outside for him to get home to ask him if it was okay to marry me, he also asked my mum too. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to do it, we are both traditional and it meant the world to me that he had organised all of this.
The ring
The ring is a beautiful 3 carat, radiant cut, on a solid gold band, with a diamond halo, procured and designed by Hirsh London.
Engagement celebrations
We have a large engagement party upcoming, in bacchanalia, with music and entertainment.
The outfit
My biggest thing was trying to get Alice to get her nails done, because I knew she would kill me if her ring finger nail, was broken when she got proposed to. The day before she still hadn’t got her nails done so I started having to be quite rude…looking at her nails in disgust, saying she can’t be seen in public looking like that.
READ NEXT: The Engagement Story With Cassie Capuozzo
