How I Got Engaged in Brazil on My Birthday in the Most Magical Way 💍

I left for Brazil at 28 and returned at 29 with the most incredible blessing—I’m a FIANCÉE! 💍 This moment was something I had dreamed of countless times. I’d daydreamed about how it would feel, where it would happen, and most importantly, who I’d be sharing it with. All of those questions were answered this fall during my unforgettable birthday trip to Brazil, where the love of my life proposed. I’m overjoyed to share this milestone with you and can’t wait to take you along on this exciting journey!  

Over the decade since starting my blog, I’ve loved documenting all of the monumental parts of my life. I’ve grown so much. Now, stepping into this new chapter as a fiance makes it all the more real. I’m embracing adulthood in its fullest sense.

My birthday trip to Rio de Janeiro turned into the ultimate romantic surprise: a rooftop engagement proposal at the Ritz Copacabana Hotel. Here’s how everything unfolded, from the days before the proposal all the way to the proposal itself:

Choosing the Perfect Birthday Dress for My Rooftop Proposal in Brazil

As I prepared for this trip to Brazil I wasn’t 100% certain I would be getting proposed but I knew I was within the timeframe where a proposal could be near. At the end of the day, I was just planning to be present and enjoy myself. After all, Brazil was at the top of my list of countries I wanted to visit and it was the last birthday of my twenties so I knew I would have a blast either way. While packing for the trip, I focused on two main dressy events: my birthday celebration and the G20 summit rooftop dinner. When deciding what to wear for my birthday, I asked my fiancé (then boyfriend) for his opinion. He thoughtfully considered the options without pushing any particular color, allowing me to choose freely. I settled on my red dress because it was fun, vibrant, and exactly what I had envisioned. Little did I know, that rooftop dinner would be the night he would propose.

How I Nailed the Perfect Engagement-Ready Nail Set for Brazil

The funniest part of the story took place literally the day before we were flying out and I went tog et my nails done. At the start of the year, I’d made it my mission to solidify the perfect nail set for the moment I got proposed to—because I was fully manifesting that it would happen in 2024. My engagement nails vision alternated between French tips and soft, natural pinks. But somewhere along the way, I completely abandoned the plan. Let’s just say that by the time the big day rolled around, my nails weren’t exactly living up to my original Pinterest-level expectations.

Caught up in the usual pre-trip frenzy, I walked out of the salon feeling satisfied. That is, until I took a closer look after sending a picture to my boyfriend, as I always do. Instead of his usual “looks great!” text, he calls me.

“Do you like your nails?” he asked.

“Yeah! Don’t you?”

Cue an awkward pause. And that’s when I knew—he didn’t. This threw me for a loop because since when did he have strong opinions about my nails? Strong enough to call me, no less? I took another look at them, and sure enough, you could see my real nails underneath the polish.

“Go back to the salon,” he said.

“Wait, are they that bad?”

Spoiler alert: they were. By the time you see the pictures I’ll include, you’ll totally understand. But in that moment, I was flustered. I had plans to hit Target and TJ Maxx for last-minute trip essentials, and nail salons were about to close. It was a total inconvenience. Still, I knew that if I got proposed to with that set, I’d be beyond pressed.

Long story short, I dashed into a nail salon 15 minutes before closing, where a nail tech worked magic and gave me the perfect French tip redo. Crisis averted! I was officially proposal-ready—and yes, very relieved.

My Romantic Rooftop Proposal 

After all of the pre-vacation tasks were checked off of my to do list, we were finally off to Brazil! Mind you, I was totally hands off when it came to planning the itinerary so I was truly in for a surprise. The only thing I was expecting was this G20 summit dinner that my boyfriend was so excited about. He said it was free and I love free so how could I turn that down? We get to our hotel, Ritz Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro and the check in wasn’t until 2pm so we got some food and took a little nap on the beach. At this point he’s looking at his phone and just sooo ready to get to the hotel LOL. The “rooftop dinner” was at 4pm so there was ample amount of time for me to get ready but boy was he adamant about leaving very close to 4pm. I was like “am I one of the world leaders?” But alas, around 4:20pm we take one last photo as boyfriend and girlfriend and head up the elevators to the surprise of a lifetime.

I step out of the elevators onto the rooftop and he leads me to the right of the terrace towards a door. It’s very quiet. I turn the corner and immediately see the words “Will you marry me?” spelled out on a beautiful white floral backdrop. It was the most beautiful question to ever see written out like that just right in front of me. It was right there. It was happening right then at that moment.

I looked at his face and he had the biggest smile and warm sweet eyes. I just felt pure joy vibrating in my body. I felt pure joy and love. I was smiling wider than I knew was humanly possible. It felt like I could feel every millisecond of that experience. Just completely present. He got on one knee to ask for my hand in marriage “will you marry me?” I said YES! I hugged him so tight and had some tears coming down. We were now ENGAGED! One of the most beautiful and happiest moments of my life. 

Just as I had wanted, we had a full engagement photoshoot following the proposal and I absolutely loved the results. I was really living out the moment I had daydreamed about and it was just beautiful and I was just as happy as can be. It was an amazing way to start out the trip and the rest of the trip I was just cheesing left and right and showing off my ring. My birthday was about 5 days afterwards so it was a full on engagement celebration and a celebration of a new year of life. Just truly a blessing and I am glad I got to celebrate it the way I did.

Thank you for being a part of my journey here on DaibyDai over the years—it means the world to me! I’m so excited to share more as I embrace this new chapter as a fiancée. If you’ve experienced a romantic destination proposal or have questions about planning one, I’d love to hear from you! Let’s connect in the comments and keep the conversation going. Stay tuned for more adventures, love stories, and inspiration to come! 💍✨

As always, 

Take it step by step and DaibyDai