A wedding to remember?

Three weeks ago, something magical happened. I was on one knee, and she said 'yes.' What happened after was celebration, debate on the proper date, colors, and looking up "centerpiece" on wikipedia. So, apparently, you can't just give a girl a ring and the rest is history. Who knew?

I met the woman of my dreams about 4 months ago. It was a friend of a friend type thing that blossomed quicker than either of thought. I thought she was amazing, and for some reason, she thought the same of me. I let the "l-word" slip really early on. I shouldn't have, and admitted it broke every rule in the book, but like so many other things, she laughed it off, calmed me down, and told me she had loved me too. Crazy, right?

It was two months later when we started talking marriage. I don't know how we got on to the subject. It may have been some whine, breaking down the nervous barriers, but we talked for hours, in the cold, how we had secretly desired to be bonded in matrimony. We talked about it again, after the alcohol had worn off, and I discovered we were actually serious. The weirdest part was, I wasn't freaking out. The weight of "commitment" was non-existent, and I realized, I wasn't settling down, I wasn't settling for anything, I was committing to loving this beautiful goddess for the rest of my life, and it was ok.

So, I went ring shopping. If you ever need to sober up, or want to feel poor or stupid, go ring shopping. There I was with my sister and brother-in-law, looking like a deer in the headlights. I had a rough idea of what I wanted and widdled away at it until I found the perfect ring in my budget. It wasn't easy, and boy was it stressful. I mean, what if she saw the ring? What if it didn't fit? What if she doesn't like it? Oh God! What if she said 'no?" So, after getting the ring, I did what any smart man did; drank lots of beer. Sure, it helped for a bit, but that day was coming when I would ask, and she would have to choose between me and... ... and... ... well, not me.

The day had arrived. My good friend (and best man) had invited us to Disney World for the weekend. Apparently, he knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a mouse. I had talked to him, and like Oceans 11, he worked every detail out, and put me at ease. So we took some pictures, he held the ring, and the moment came. He took me aside and said we would do it here, in front of the castle, and there would be photographers and it would be my moment. I only heard "it would be my moment to screw up." As my future fiance came walking back toward me, we went to take another picture...

My friend had told the photographer I would propose, so she snapped away. My fiance, still clueless, was wondering why I wasn't properly posing. I turned to her and told her that I loved her more than I ever thought I could love someone, and that I thought it would take a lifetime to tell her how much, and that I wanted to spend my life with her. All while shaking like a junkie without his fix. Finally, the time came. I should've lubed the box, because I had a hard time getting it out of my pocket. Finally, I did, as I dropped to one knee. Yeah, she figured it out now. I asked her to marry me. As she figured it out, she took a big step back...not a good sign. Her eyes got really big, and she asked me to get up. I asked her to say 'yes' and like it finally hit her, she realized she needed to answer, and she said "yes...yes, of course, yes!" She saw the ring, and smiled. Clearly, she liked it, but that smile was way more beautiful than anything they had at the jewelry shop.

And, then, I looked behind me to see this huge crowd of people who had gathered to cheer me on. I didn't even notice. I saw my friends crying, and my girlfriend, uhh, fiance, jumping up and down, still in shock. Yeah, it was the best day of my life. And then, we rode Space Mountain....

TO BE CONTINUED