Her version:
When I met Mark for the first time, I saw forever in his eyes. He’s cute, smart, funny – and above all, he’s not a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. Otherwise, this whole wedding thing wouldn’t be happening.
During the summer of 2015, Mark worked three jobs in addition to his 9-5 in Internet marketing. He was a youth soccer referee, sand soccer referee, and a freelance photographer. All were ways for him to enjoy things that he’s passionate about in life, and seeing him happy made me happy. 🙂 But when I asked Mark what we’re saving up for, he couldn’t keep his story straight. (Were we saving for anything? A house? A vacation?) Let’s see… new tires for Jeepie, a lift kit for Jeepie, no plans at all other than to save money, among many others. He also got pretty annoyed when I asked, and tried to change the topic quickly. Ultimately, Mark was terrible at lying.
Shortly before my birthday in October, Mark asked me to email him links to the engagement rings that I really liked. OMG! Could he be planning to propose soon?!?! I emailed him those links within minutes.
When Christmas Eve rolled around, I pondered if Mark would propose to me. Later that night as we were going to sleep, Mark said “a ring isn’t everything,” and said that we should be happy with the way things are now. Yes, I was happy, but also felt crushed that he didn’t sound like he wanted to take that next step together. I cried myself to sleep.
When we were opening gifts with Mark’s family on Christmas night around 11 p.m., I found myself holding the last gift – a small, rectangular box. As I unwrapped the item, I found a Sabres Zamboni, and before I could even process the gift from Mark, he proceeded to take the box from my hand… AND PROPOSE!! I felt like I was dreaming the whole thing. HE PROPOSED! HE PROPOSED! HE PROPOSED! That was the easiest question that I’ve ever been asked, and of course I said “yes.” I also felt tired since we had driven from Buffalo to Long Island that day, and had hit the road around 6 a.m. I had napped that afternoon, but everything felt like a dream. Except it was real. I get to marry the man of my dreams!!! 🙂
His version:
It was a random weeknight I believe in the spring of 2015, when I knew. We were both laughing at one another’s jokes on the couch and she just looked at me in such a way, and it was in that very moment I knew how special she is and how I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
Weeks leading up to Christmas of 2015, I talked with her family to calm my nerves and also make sure they were on board as well. Of course they said yes, and were just as excited as I was. Now it was just about keeping it a secret for another couple weeks.
I wanted to pop the question in front of my family on Long Island on Christmas Day, which turned out to be one of the longest days of my life – in a good way.
We woke up at 6:00 am to hit the road early, so we could take a nap prior to opening gifts. It was my secret way of trying to rest temporarily and square away any remaining details with my family before it all happened. Apparently almost my whole family knew, despite the fact I only told my Mom a couple days before, but she couldn’t keep a secret as she had to get my brothers to spend time with us lol. So one gift lay alone under the tree as everyone stared at me. I casually handed Beth the box to laugh and see her face as she opened a small hot-wheel sized Sabres Zamboni.
I went on to take the gift away from her, tried telling her how much I loved her, how beautiful she is, all while quickly opening the Zamboni up hoping it didn’t fall out or get ruined after the 450-mile trip; not to mention Scooter traveled with us as he’s family and sure enough he jumped right on the couch to take my seat as I took a knee. It turned out perfectly and couldn’t have been happier. It was a special gift for my soon to be perfect wife.