The (First) Proposal

Mr. Ferris Wheel wrote a lovely and funny description of his proposal on our wedding website so instead of trying to out-do him here, I thought I'd just let him speak for himself.  (Being a good blogger, though, I've added some pictorial excitement to the whole shebang.)  Take it away, Mr. FW!

"Ms. Ferris Wheel expected a proposal in July.  Naturally, then, Mr. Ferris Wheel knew the proposal should take place in May since the one thing Ms. FW loves more than having a detailed plan is a good surprise. 

{not OUR surprise proposal, but a fantastic one nonetheless}

photography by Joe Elario Photography

He began working with Chabo Jewelery to design and create a custom ring (Ms. FW is a woman who appreciates having something unique on her finger) roughly a month before the proposal.  Soon Chabo became like his second family, and he began to have trouble coming up with excuses for all the mysterious trips out of the house!  Luckily for him (or unluckily, from his perspective), he was also furiously working towards dissertation defense, so Ms. FW didn't think much of it when  he had to "go to the cafe to study." 

Photo by austinevan via Flickr 

He planned to propose the night of his defense, May 21, 2010 (he passed, by the way).  After planning an elaborate fondue "defense celebration" dinner for that evening, there was a delay in shipping the ring, and Mr. FW told Ms. FW he was "too tired" to do dinner that night.  He picked up the ring Saturday (this one was "a trip to Target"), and hid the ring in the back of one of four drawers in a rarely-used filing cabinet in the basement until the next evening.

photo via The Old Mill Store

Naturally, Ms. FW picked that night, the first in several months, to decide to get something out of the filing cabinet.  Mr. FW was sure the secret was out when Ms. FW came upstairs and mentioned this, and he (not so) discreetly asked which drawer she had gone into.  Luckily for him, she had chosen the first and fourth drawers, and the ring remained safely tucked away in the second one. 

The next evening Mr. FW struggled through the entree portion of the fondue feast, trying to remain casual while also rehearsing the words he had been carrying around in his wallet for the last month.  When dessert rolled around he placed the box on the center of the dish surrounded by sweet dipping morsels for the chocolate, brought it out, and fell to one knee. 

It was then he promptly forgot half of what he had planned to say, but managed to get the important stuff out.  It turned out not to matter much, as Ms. FW later recalled only the word "wonderful."  It is possible this was because she went through half the proposal thinking Mr. FW was "practicing" with a fake ring because, in the moment, this was a more plausible explanation than Mr. FW actually pulling something like this off (he is not generally a good liar).  Mr. FW then instructed Ms. FW to say "yes," even though he had pretty obviously made a statement ("I can't wait to marry you") rather than asked a question. 

Six hundred photographs of the ring and an accidentally broken camera later, the couple was officially engaged on May 23, 2010."

Did anyone else have a general idea of when the proposal was coming?  And was your fiance able to surprise you?  (And yes, he did use the word's "sweet dipping morself."  What can I say - he's one of a kind!)