I must say all of this talk about proposing is bringing back great memories of when I asked my wife to marry me at Disney. I've already explained how I did it but let me explain the events leading up to that fateful night...
At the time, I was working for a small software company in CT. Keep in mind, this was in 2000, which was right at the start of the tech crash.
Anyway, there was a trade show going on at Disney I was supposed to go work. I wanted to bring my (then) girlfriend down with me so we planned to have us go down the weekend before and she would have to fly back on Tuesday (she couldn't get enough time off for the week). So I booked us rooms at Port Orleans (before we bought my uncle's DVC points).
I got to thinking, "We both LOVE Disney and we both LOVE each other. Why not ask her to marry me down there?" So I started planning. I checked in here on the boards, got some ideas, came up with many of my own and set it up.
My uncle owns a jewelry store so I headed over to his place to buy the ring. Picked out a nice one (I'm good with jewelry. Must run in the family...). I didn't have enough money to pay for it all at once and I didn't want it around the house to get lost or found so he kept it in his store while I paid him off (this was about a month and a half before the trip).
I didn't tell ANYONE for fear someone would spill the beans. We were leaving on a Friday morning (Friday, October 13, 2000 that is...). Anyway, the Friday BEFORE we were to leave my boss got laid off (company wasn't doing well). Then, on Tuesday, I got laid off!!! I was devestated being as I'd never been laid off/fired before in my life. I also wasn't so sure we should go to Disney since we'd spend a decent amount of money. I went back and forth about going and my (then) girlfriend talked me into going (she still didn't have a clue).
Anyway, we lived together at the time and my uncle's store was about 2 hours away so I wasn't sure how to go about getting the ring without raising suspision. I had him send the ring to me (the week before) to my office. He will only send jewelry via registered mail since this is actually the safest way. Problem is, at the time, there was no way of tracking it. I hadn't received the ring and it should have been there so I was quite frantic. I had the girl at the front desk keeping an eye out for it. I called the post office in CT where I worked and spoke to a very nice lady. She wasn't supposed to but she found out it was being delivered that day. This was the Thursday before we were leaving!!! I needed an excuse to drive up to the office (and was blowing off an interview at the same time) so I told her I'd forgotten something up there.
So I got the ring, we left on Friday morning to fly down. Now I had to worry about where to hide the ring until that night (I'd planned to do it the first night so she could enjoy the time and I wouldn't screw it up!). I hid it in a very nice Coach briefcase she'd gotten me for my birthday in August that year. I sort of held onto that bag like I was guarding my life. Afterwards she mentioned she noticed but thought I didn't want to ruin the bag...
We get to the room and now I have to get the ring out of the bag. I decide to have us both walk out of the room and I'd conveniently forgotten to put on sunscreen (I'm half Polish and half Irish, no tanning here...). We got downstairs and I told her I'd be right back. I run back to the room and grab the ring out of the bag (which got stuck briefly). In my haste, I ALMOST forgot to put on suscreen.
So we go to MK and I've got this ring (out of the box of course) in my pocket. It's worth a lot (on many levels) and I'm terrified I'm going to lose it. Now, we're both very affectionate and we hold hands all of the time. She also will, occasionally, put her hand in my pocket so I had to be sure she was always on my RIGHT side and I kept the ring in my LEFT pocket. She didn't think anything of it.
So we rode the attractions and just had a great time. I'm getting more nervous as the day goes on because I still hadn't decided what I was going to say when I asked her!
About an hour and half before our reservations she said she was hungry and wondered whether they'd allow us to eat earlier. I told her they said they can't change the times for us and left it at that.
When the time came we went there, I left her across the courtyard and told them we were there and ready to be seated. The girl looked up my name and smiled at me and said, "Your package is here and ready!" That made me feel good.
They brought us inside and we sat while they opened up a table upstairs. There were these two older women sitting next to her and one said to her, "Maybe your prince will bring you a glass slipper!" She looked at me and said, "Yeah, maybe he will!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing. I told her, "Well if you're good maybe he just will..."
So we went up, had dinner, saw the fireworks and I asked her. Still don't remember exactly what I said. I just remember the look of shock on her face and then her standing up and yelling, "YES!" Then we got the standing ovation. What a perfect night.
But wait, there's more. This was Friday the 13th. It was a FULL moon. AND it was an e-ticket night! It really couldn't have gotten any better.
Anyway, we're HAPPILY married and have a beautiful baby boy. You can learn more about it all at our website (
www.rickandedit.com). I've not had a chance to update it in a few months though. Bear with me.
Sorry for the long post...
The Rickster
