Finally, this day has arrived! I have the three finalist for our proposal contest. All these brides had to do was send in their beautiful proposal stories and we are going to let our readers decide on the winner. The winner of this contest wins our Weekend Wedding Coordination Package and will be able to enjoy their wedding weekend stress free!!
Voting begins today and will last through Monday March 30, 2009 until 11:59 pm. You can vote once per day, to your right on the sidebar ---->. If you vote more than once per day your vote will be deleted. The winner will be announced on Tuesday March 31, 2009! Good luck to all of our couples!
1) Proposal submitted by Jennifer MickleThe story begins on December 6, 2008, our 1 year anniversary. We began the day with a drive to Charlotte Davidson-NC State basketball game. Now, I am a die-hard Wildcat fan and decided that Josh needed to develop an appreciation for my first love. So I dragged him to the campus on the way into town where he insisted on taking pictures of me in front of various sites of significance. (Pictures I discovered later that he would use to create a scrapbook of the day). After this brief detour, we continued on to the game where we watched an exciting match-up who's outcome certainly made me happy.
I was already on cloud 9 from the adrenaline rush of the game when we returned to Winston Salem to get ready for dinner and Med School Prom. Despite the endless hounding, Josh refused to tell me where we were going for dinner. Up until the moment we parked, I didn't realize he arranged to take me back to the little Thai place we went for our first date. He is a very sentimental guy and reserved the same table from that first evening and even wore the same tie as when we first met. The dinner was amazing and he didn't spare any course (including the amazing custard dessert).
Just as I thought we were heading back to my house to visit with friends before the dance, he took a strange turn that led us to the medical school parking lot. He simply led me up to the school entrance, ignoring all my incesant rambling questions along the way. Before I realized what was happening, I noticed a bouquet of red roses resting at the base of the entrance statue and rose petals scattered all around the brick courtyard beneath.
Tears immediately welled up in my eyes as he grabbed my hand and handed me the bouquet. He began by saying some amazing words about how much he loved me and hoped to have many more years together. He then pulled out a verse from Proverbs 31 10-31, stating that he couldn't better summarize the qualities he saw in me as a potential wife than what he had recently read in the Bible describing "the perfect wife." By now, I was literally sobbing as he got to one knee and pulled out that magical little box. The only word I could form in response was "yes" which I emphatically repeated over and over until he lifted me up with his wonderful bear hug and kissed me.
After our brief private moment of hugs and kisses, he said "I think there are some other people here that I thought should share this moment with us" and led me towards the windows that line the school entrance. Through these, I saw our closest friends from medical school rushing out to greet us with squeals and hugs all around. We took pictures and called our folks before heading out to celebrate the rest of the night at the Med School Prom.
The day could not have been a more perfect blend of all of my favorite people, places and things and the proposal could not have been more fitting for the story of us. It was truly a dream come true!
2) Proposal submitted by Carrie TylerMy name is Carrie Tyler and my story isn't unique in any way, but it is a story I'll remember forever. I had been waiting on this day for 5 long years. Matt and I have been dating for 6 years, it is his first marriage and my second and last. I finally found the man of my dreams!!!!!!
We went on our first date to a steak house and then met some of my friends at RJ Gators for a moment. Well the night he proposed was 02-16-08 two days after Valentine's Day . We went to RJ Gators and while we were waiting on a table he asked me "do you remember the first time we came here?" and i said we had been dating for a couple of months. He tried to correct me and said "no" it was our first date when we ate here. I said "no we met some friends in the parking lot for a moment and left then you took me to look at some of the houses you had built". He bit his lip and I did not know why. At that moment our table was ready, so we ate walked outside to leave.
We walked out to his truck, he opened my door and dropped down on one knee and started stuttering. He took a deep breath and asked will you marry me. Of course I said yes and we both were crying. In five years that was the first time I had seen him cry. We have been through a lot and that moment was very special for the both of us. I will never forget it. I do not have any pictures, but the memory will last in my head forever. Why he came so early to pick me up, why we went to RJ Gators because we never go there, and even asking those questions, and after all that I still never caught on.
Well you've heard my story and there are no candles or roses but I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was romantic to me, and that's all I asked for.
3)Proposal submitted by Katy and ClayThe way that Clay proposed might not have been the "most romantic" story, because we are far from the romantic types. Our engagement story was perfect nonetheless.
Clay and I have spent a lot of our relationship in Charleston on the family's sailboat. I always knew that I wanted to get engaged in Charleston, but at the same time I didn't want to push my luck with dropping hints- so I didn't say anything. We had planned for months to spend the weekend of the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston and had our bags packed ready to go. The one thing I didn't know was that Clay had my beautiful ring packed in his bag. We spent Friday night in Charleston the way we normally do around the marina. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary, but Clay was acting really weird. When I asked what was wrong he told me that he wasn't feeling well and he had a stomachache. Looking back on it now I can see that he was sick because he was so nervous about what was going to happen the next day.
The day of the race there was a storm looming the entire day, but it held off for the race. We had planned to have a dock party with family friends after the race, so we were busy prepping food for it. Unbeknownst to me, while I was prepping the food Clay was showing off my ring to everyone there that would soon witness the big event. The storm continued to loom over the bridge, but after checking the weather relentlessly we decided that we could go ahead with the party. As I sat on the boat steps eating shrimp, Clay came over and told me to "wipe the shrimp juice off my fingers and walk with him." I didn't think much of it because we often go for walks around the marina. We walked to the end of the dock that faces Charleston Harbor and Clay started spewing words about how much I meant to him and how much he loved me. I thought he was just talking about his feelings. The next thing that I knew he was on his knee, asking THAT question, and opening a box. Everything he said was a blur. It sounded a lot like "You know I love you... blah blah blah... I want to spend the rest of my life with you... blah blah blah... will you marry me?" I wish I could remember what was said at that moment, but I was too excited once he hit his knee that "YES! YES! YES! YES!" was running through my head the entire time and I couldn't hear anything else. Once the question was popped I couldn't say "Yes!" fast enough. Tears were pouring out of my eyes (I'm one of those emotional people) and I could barely breathe at that moment.
Once he got off his knee and hugs were exchanged we went back to the party. It turned out that he had handed my camera to Brenda, one of our family friends, and she had captured the entire thing. I looked through the pictures and everyone looked at my ring for a few minutes. I knew that I needed to call my Mama and let her know. As I was telling her and ending our conversation, the storm that had been looming over us the entire day hit. It was as if it had held off until Clay proposed. The storm lasted awhile, but that gave me plenty of time to look at my ring and spend some alone time with Clay. He told me that he had been worried the storm was going to strike before he could pop the question and decided to do it right then because he couldn't keep it a secret any longer.
Looking back on that day I wouldn't have wanted him to do it any differently. It was perfect and it was uniquely us.
