Although we were surrounded by many of our friends on Saturday night as Stephen proposed to me, there were still many friends and all of our families that weren't able to be with us. Since many people have been asking for the story, and so that I maybe be able to remember the details always, I thought I'd write down the story of our day.
That Saturday - December 10th, 2016 - started rather late for me, as Yuletide the night before had ended late. I woke up still tired and with a splitting headache; not a great way to feel for the longest day of Yuletide. I spent what little morning I had left cleaning the house, and was unable to get to some of the other things I had wanted to do.
All of this left me feeling rather cranky by the time I got to Yuletide at 1:30 in the afternoon. After being there for a bit, I noticed that Stephen was acting a little weird, but I thought, "Maybe he's being normal and I'm just extra sensitive to it right now since I'm cranky." So, I dismissed it and moved on. We went for a walk around the perfectly snow-covered streets of the village, and he did his utmost to cheer me up; it took till a little later in the afternoon, but he did succeed in cheering me up!
Photo credit: Sue Price
Photo credit: Sue Price
Photo credit: Sue Price
Now, to fully appreciate the perfection of the proposal, you must know a little bit about our scene for Yuletide this year. Our scene starts with two girls chatting about the dance, flirting with the tour groups, and lamenting that there aren't enough eligible men in town. Then, one of the girls spills the secret that Nathaniel (Stephen) was going to take Clarice (me) to the apple orchard to propose before we came to the dance. Shortly after Nathaniel and Clarice arrive at the dance, and announce that we are "to be married!"
So, all day, we were going through the motions of "being engaged" and being congratulated, and talking about "wedding details". At one point between tours, a friend (who knew nothing of the plan to propose) mentioned that she really wanted to go to a wedding, and gave Stephen a telling look. At another point during the day, I told a friend that because Stephen and I had been together so long, I realized that engagement could happen at any time but I'd stopped expecting it to happen.
It was a very long day, with twenty-three tours and all of them full to the brim, so it was no surprise when shortly after dinner, the director of special events came over to tell us that they had had a lot of walk-on visitors and needed to add an extra tour at the end of the night. Whatever he may have been feeling, Stephen did a good job of playing up the "I'm so tired, why did they have to add an extra tour?", and I, being in a good mood again, did my best to cheer him up and keep him going.
The rest of the evening was quite uneventful, counting down the number of tours we had left, playing charades in between scenes, and trying our best to keep up our energy.
As we got towards the end of the evening, things did get a little odd. In between tours, I nearly always sit in what I call "The Seat of Responsibility", where I can tell if there is a tour in the scene before us, and I can see when they start walking towards us. As we neared the end of the night, I was watching out the window, and saw what had originally been the last tour of the night but was now the second to last tour go into the house before us, and the tour guide took the red-ribbon lantern inside with him, signifying that he was the last tour of the night. I was confused, because there was supposed to be one more tour, but I didn't think much of it - things happen, tours get switched around, and we museum people are experts in flexibility.
But then, that tour came to us, and the tour guide didn't bring a red-ribbon lantern inside. I was even more confused, but just thought, "Well, I must have been mistaken, I guess we have one more tour."
After that tour left, my good friend Anneliese came over to "watch the last scene" and take picture of my new dress. Really, she was distracting me from watching out the window, in case I should realize that the tour coming towards us was all staff members. She did a good job, because I didn't realize that Stephen was getting a little anxious.
Photo credit: Anneliese Meck
Well, the last tour did come our way; Stephen and I went to the back hallway to wait for our cue, and he started acting silly, mimicing the girls as they went through the scene. When we came into the room, it took me a bit to realize that it was entirely staff on the tour and not really walk-on guests. My first thought was, "Oh, they must have added a staff tour so that we call all see the rest of he show. But, that's not fair - we only get to see the last two scenes!" And now, the best way to continue the story is to show the video. Unfortunately, you can't see much, but you can hear it very well. Everything is the Yuletide scene as normal, until Stephen starts talking about not making it to the apple orchard - that's when I started thinking "Why is he going off script? I know it's an all-staff tour, but now I have to figure out how to ad lib with him!"
Video credit: Anneliese Meck
Yes, I legitimately had to ask if this was real, because Stephen has fake-proposed to me twice before (not with a ring but with other things), and because I've just been waiting so long! Once I was convinced of the reality, I said "Absolutely!!" because a simple "yes" just didn't cut it.
On a funny side-note, the squeals of "Oh my gosh!" that you hear are actually the other girls in the scene, because only our dance master Rick knew about this ahead of time. I was utterly speechless, as I always am when I'm surprised.
Photo credit: Anneliese Meck
And, oh, maybe I should actually look at my ring!
Photo credit: Anneliese Meck
We then waltzed to an absolutely perfect tune, "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", played by our friend Colton. Again, you can't see much, but we also have a video of that.
Video credit: Anneliese Meck
After that, another friend had the forethought to bring a cake, so we all ate, and talked, and laughed. Last thing before we ended the party, our dear friend Amelia asked if she could pray for us, so all our friends gathered around in a big circle, and she and Stephen prayed as we started this new chapter in our life.
Photo credit: Anneliese Meck
I really, truly cannot think of a more perfect way to have been proposed to. To be wearing a red dress (that I had just finished!), to be dancing, and to be in the Town Hall, all just like the night that Stephen and I first met, was entirely perfect. To be surrounded by so many of our friends, and to know that many of them had helped to keep the secret and pull this off, was the best feeling. It definitely was a bit of a blur, but I am thankful that I can relive the wonderful, surprising, magical feelings over and over again thanks to the pictures and videos that everyone took, and that it can allow everyone else who wasn't there to share in the magic, too!
And now, as I've been telling myself over and over again for the last several days....
"Holy Cow!!! WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!" =D
