the proposal

Synopsis:

I proposed to Stephanie on December 19th in a wing of our church, located on the second floor. This wing consisted of 1 large room, a hall way, and a bathroom. Other than just being a lovely spot because of Jesus, this location was also where we had our first dance and, let’s just say, where we both first said “I love you” to each other. ;)

The premise for the proposal was that our friend, Josh, was surprising his girlfriend, Brittney (also a friend of ours, and in on it) at the church with a date. He of course needed the help of Stephanie, her sister Melissa, and our friend Audrey. So, the three girls were put in charge of distracting Brittney for the day and then getting her to the church at 5pm. Once at the church the ladies were instructed to blind fold Brittney and bring her up the stairs.

The Set Up:

I left my house roughly around 9am on Dec 19th to being setting up at the church. Now, I’ll admit, I really love flowers and enjoy buying them for Stephanie. So, of course I stopped at the store on my way and picked up a few.

A whole tub full.

I arrived at the church around 10am and began setting up. The room contained large dividers that could split it into 3 smaller rooms, so I closed the dividers and only utilize the middle room. At the back of the room (where I proposed) I hung curtains, set up a table, a few candle stands, and flowers. Leading up to the back table I formed a short path with flowers and tea candles in small, blue, mason jars. Towards the front of the room were two long tables. Now, we are both pretty sentimental people. So naturally, we each have a shoe box filled with movie stumps, letters, notes (there is a difference), what I call love crafts (ie. Candy wrappers formed into hearts), and so on. So I placed these on the table in the best chronological order that I could remember along with other photos, gifts, and of course more flowers. I had to sneak these items out of Stephanie’s room after she left to “distract Brittney”. In addition to the “proposal room” I had also sectioned off part of the hall way attached to the bathroom as a space for the girls to get Stephanie ready. This room was also attached to the stairs that the ladies would first come up.

The setup took me 8 hours to complete (which was exactly how much time I had allotted for myself). It took way longer than I thought it would. Stephanie texted me saying telling me they were one their way and I still hadn’t finished lighting all the candles or changed yet. (It’s also funny to point out that Stephanie was the lookout for her own proposal! Haha) Anyways, I was also lucky that our friend Audrey was able to stop by for an hour or two to help me set up!

While the ladies got her ready I finished lighting all the candles in the room and patiently waited. I wasn’t nervous at all, just super excited. It seemed like it took them forever to get her ready! I know… that’s such a guy thing to say. But, I mean she’s already so darn beautiful how much primping do you really need? Anyways, after 2 years she walked down a candle lit path from the small sectioned off hallway room and meet me at the doorway of “the proposal room”. From there, hand in hand, we “walked down memory lane” as we looked at the items on each table.

Once we finished, I escorted her to the back of the room where the table was. On the table was a heart that I crafted out of wood. The heart had “Will you marry me?” written on one side and was covered with a cloth. After I told her how much I loved her I pulled off the cloth revealing the words as I said them. I also instructed her to spin the heart around if she says yes. On the other side was a heart shaped door with the word “Yes” on it. I then opened the door, took out the ring inside, bent down on one knee, and put the ring on her finger. We then had our first kiss. (We waited until we got engaged to kiss. It was also the first time either of us had ever kissed someone) Needless to say, it was awkward. Following, we dimmed the lights and danced to a few songs.