The week leading up to this moment was interesting. Of course I was on edge attempting to plan it all without giving anything away (except the ring of course). Luckily for me Shay was out of town for 4 days in Las Vegas.
It started out with a nerve racking discussion with her parents. They were fine and passed on their blessing, but I was nervous trying to bring up the topic. Then there was the sleepless nights, scattered mind, preoccupied thoughts amidst the normal life I tried to live. I think it went ok. So here’s how it unfolded on Saturday June 3, 2006
1. Shay has coffee with a friend. Meanwhile, Steve and Keith enter Shay’s home to get it ready for after dinner……placing candles and flowers all about…
2. Shay arrives at Steve’s house for a day outing.
3. Shay and Steve have a “spa day”……Shay had gotten me a massage gift certificate that I was waiting to use. So while I was getting rubbed down, Shay was getting a manicure –a nice touch since lovely manicured hands would go along with the ring.
4. Shay and Steve head down South Granville to pick up some treats for a picnic on the beach…..we often hang out on South Granville, touring shops, stopping for coffee and crapes and just enjoying some down time….
5. Shay and Steve head down to Jericho Beach/Spanish Banks, pick out a spot, and have a picnic (I managed to stay quite calm through it all). Previous to this day, Keith and I were scouting areas to possibly have a picnic rain or shine (I had a back up plan if the rain was coming down, but thankfully we had a lot of sun!!!)
6. We were just enjoying our time, chatting and eating. Then I told her I had a gift for her. Since we had been going on 7 months of dating, I told her I wanted to put together thoughts and pictures of our courtship. So I had a “Scrap” book all done up– thoughts from my heart that she could keep to remember her of this day.
7. A little more time had passed when I told her I had some more small gifts from “Steeps” – Steeps is a tea house where we first met on our blind date back in July 2005. I told her it was a “smell testing game”. I had 3 types of tea that she had to guess on…..so there we were on our beach blanket. She had her blind fold on and I had the tin of tea open, waving it under her nose where she had to guess what it was….each time afterwards, she would open her eyes to see the tea and read the label.
8. The final tin of tea was “it”…..and now I began to shake…but she couldn’t see me shake because she had her eyes closed. So the final tin of tea was labeled “Good Morning”. I went on to comment how this was significant to us. I’ve often left Shay’s place or she leaving mine where neither of us wanted to go. Plus we’ve often talked about our future together……..so I went into some story of how one day this would become our reality and that I wanted to wake up with her by my said as her husband and she my wife. She then opened her eyes and stared at the open tea canister with the ring on top.
9. She was shocked! She was speechless! She then said yes time 10,000.
Here are some pictures of our day. For the full set, please click on the link... http://www.flickr.com/photos/26651409@N00/
The remainder of the evening was great. Not only did the first part of the day go off without a hitch, the remainder of the day did as well. I had told her I booked reservations at a restaurant. She finally guessed where it was as we were driving near the location. We ate at “Season on the Hill Top Bistro” – up at Queen Elizabeth Park. This was another sentimental place, since it’s a location she often visited with her family years ago and now with weekly walks in order to get some exercise.
As we walked toward our table, she once again was shocked. There we had the most beautiful corner table with a breath taking view of the city. Furthermore, we had a few quests – one of her good friends Myra and my buddy Keith as well as Steve and Kris were sitting at the table …..Shay had no idea I had pre-arranged for them to all be there to celebrate with us. The food was out of this world and our time memorable.
After dinner I took my time heading back to her place. I had arranged for Keith, Steve and Kris to light the candles and get her place put together for one final surprise. When we arrived at Shay’s doorstep, I opened the door. There she was shocked one last time.
The candles lit the room with flowers staged throughout her home. The background music was playing as well. …….It was there we sat to soak in how the day unfolded….mesmerized by it all, with smiles on our faces. We had a dance to Ella Fitzgerald jazz music, held each other close…a few kisses and it’s there that I looked into the eyes of my soon to be bride telling her how much I loved her.
It’s a day I’ll never forget……
