Our Proposal

I recently realized that the description of our engagement we wrote for our wedding guests was on an old computer in an outdated format. Scared to lose track of it forever, I am posting here to keep it safe. Enjoy!

Her Story:

Marcy, Jamie and I flew to Dublin on March 23 to see the sites and take in as much of the culture as we could even if it meant spending hours in pubs, drinking beer, looking for it. We started there but then went west to see the countryside. It was beautiful (when we opened our eyes from praying for our lives as each one of us took turns driving on the "wrong" side of the road.) The people were so nice and we found some great pubs and bed and breakfasts. We returned to the big city just in time to catch a big rugby match between Ireland and Scotland.

 On the 5th day of our trip, after a long day of walking and sightseeing on my own, I rejoined my friends at the hostel. While resting in the room, an employee came to tell me I had a delivery in the lobby. I went downstairs to find a bouquet of roses. Each rose had a card attached with memories from the past year and a half. Jamie noticed that there were only 11 roses and the desk attendant told me that the delivery guy was still outside so I could go get the 12th rose from him. I went outside and saw no delivery guy, just a busy street.

I looked one last time down the street. At the corner, I saw Greg with the rose. He had flown all night, with 2 layovers, to come to Dublin to propose to me. I only wish I could have seen my face. He knelt down right there on the street corner. After saying "yes" (how could I not after that), we were congratulated by Dubliners applauding as they waited to cross the street. It was like a movie... simply unbelievable.

His Story:

Susan wanted to be a surprised for her engagement which was a pretty tall order.  As her trip to Ireland neared, though, the opportunity and timing could not have been better.  The plan would be easy to put together but keeping it a secret would prove hard.  I enlisted the aid of one of her two trip companions, Jamie.  Because I did not want to arouse suspicion, we eliminated communication by simply planning to have Susan in the hostel between 5 and 7 on Sunday when they were in Dublin.  I trusted Jamie’s ability to have Susan and Marcy, their other unsuspecting trip companion, in place at 6pm Sunday.

Since I hadn’t communicated with Jamie since they left for Ireland, I decided to show exactly on time.  As I enlisted the help of the staff at the front desk, Marcy came to the desk.  I panicked, figuring that Susan must be around – I was a little upset that after all the planning and travel it would be a shortened proposal. Fortunately, Susan was resting upstairs. Jamie had kept the secret and, after I explained it all to a surprised Marcy, the staff went upstairs to announce Susan’s floral delivery.  I took my place on the street corner outside.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity.  Passerby's gave a curious smile to the guy standing on the corner with a rose in hand.  Susan came out of the doorway.  She looked across the street, up the street and down the street.  I was nervous she didn’t see me so far away so I waved the final rose and caught her eye.  She made her way slowly down the street still not sure why I was there.  Finally, I got down on one knee, and with her answer yes, got happy approval from the pedestrians nearby.