After 12 years together with girlfriend Nikki Barrie, Colin Yule wanted his proposal to be perfect.
He had the date, Christmas Day, and the venue, Haddo House country park, in mind.
The 32-year-old had the dream vision of getting down on one knee after taking their daughter Aimee, 8, and son Ryan, 4, for a festive stroll together.
The park has a special place in the family’s hearts after countless days together enjoying the outdoors.
However, a week before the big day, Colin’s plans risked being ruined when the estate confirmed it would remain closed longer than expected due to damage from Storm Arwen.
Phone calls to keep dreams on track
Haddo House had initially intended to reopen its doors again to the public on December 18 after Storm Arwen brought down countless trees.
When that date was postponed, Colin quickly realised his dream of proposing at the top of the deer park hill after a walk along the Scots Mile risked being shattered.
Several phone calls were held with Haddo House country park staff to try and keep his Christmas proposal wish alive before a meeting was arranged to hatch an alternative plan – which was getting down on one knee in front of Haddo House itself.
Colin said: “It was all a bit of a hassle but, to be fair, Nikki from the park was great.
“We’ve been together for so long, and it’s such a special place for us, I wanted to do it right.
“She said we weren’t going to be allowed up the hill but she said there was a church service on Christmas Day and we would be allowed in there.
“So we had to fake it a bit that we were going in to the church service.”
‘The house was madness – I didn’t want to go’
After concocting his alternative plan, Colin’s next challenge was to be getting mum-of-two Nikki out of the house on Christmas Day morning and to Haddo House for the proposal.
With two young children, the family’s home near Ellon was understandably the scene of considerable excitement and activity at the time.
And Colin had to rely on the help of his own mum and dad encouraging his fiancé-to-be to go out the front door.
Nikki said: “Originally, I didn’t want to go. It was Christmas Day, we’ve got two little kids, it was just madness.
“When he said we had to leave just after 9am I said there was just no way we were doing that, but he managed to convince me.
“We’ve been together 12 years so I wasn’t expecting it. It was a total surprise, it still feels like a dream.”