So You're EnGAYged, a LGBT wedding blog

Cheryll and I met the day after an evening in which she had been stood up and I had a particularly uncomfortable run-in with an ex.
I like to think both of us were sending out messages to the universe desperately urging the other to surface already…we were both at a point in our lives where we were ready to meet that person we were destined for.

The moment I knew that Cheryll was the one for me is the same moment I started planning my proposal.
I planned to propose at Disneyland because Disneyland was the location of our first official “date”. This was a BIG deal. I’m the ultimate girly-girl and never dreamed of proposing to anyone! That coupled with the fact that I don’t share well either (haha), but every part of being with Cheryll has been so easy this decision came so natural to me. I decided to propose by using a fortune teller which is one of those hand held paper games where you open and close it by count and under each flap there would be a fortune.

The outside of mine had four items that were special to us: Disneyland, turtle, a rainbow (duh! gay pride lol), and family (which had an image of two girls and a girl kid all in Mickey ears). The inside had dates of special events in our relationship such as our first date, our first kiss, when I knew I told her I loved her. The fortune teller was a nice way to bring my daughter, Jordan, into the mix because she’s always making and playing with these things.

We invited several of our friends, my mother and daughter as well, to join us on August 25th. Everyone was in on it!
I set it up to take group pictures right outside of the Haunted Mansion because there is a pretty nice garden area. After group shots I sat Cheryll down and started playing with this fortune teller. She was so confused! I love how in some of the pictures my friend TJ was able to capture our expressions while we were going through this. The first thing out of Cheryll’s mouth was “you punk” (then came the yes)! I had beat her to the punch. I later found out that she was going to propose to me on this very day but couldn’t get the ring in time! We then headed over to California Adventure with our “Just Engaged” Mikey ears and watched the World of Color show.

Fast forward to October 9th. I planned a big birthday brunch at Tower 23 in Pacific Beach with several friends to come celebrate my 35th! My birthday was actually on the 6th but it was mid-week so a Saturday celebration was apropos. Leading up to this day Cheryll had bought me this super dope very expensive coffee maker and a diamond pendant necklace with the promise of another present at my brunch. I just knew it was this purse I’d had my eye on all year (kinda pricey). I almost expected it; I was that sure (hence the expression on my face before opening the big box). Sure enough, inside was my purse and I was so happy. Then I opened it and there was a DVD inside that said “play me”. I turned to her wondering how I was gonna do that at this restaurant we were in when there she was ready with a portable player. The DVD was pictures of us from our first date leading up to my birthday all set to romantic songs she’s played for me. At the end the screen read “Will you marry me?” I was hysterical and I didn’t say yes, I said of course! No one really knew about it, she kept it a secret so unfortunately the only pictures we have were taken on a cell phone. A few days later we took off to Hawaii on a fabulous vacation!

We are planning to have a short and sweet legal ceremony next summer (hopefully in California where we live, if not then Boston) and are planning an intimate estate wedding on 10/11/12.

Related Posts:

• Our Engaygement Story
• Double Proposal, Part II: Alex’s Turn
• 5 Takes: Remembering When Tom Proposed to Me
• 5 Takes: Double Proposal
• A Video Proposal and Save The Date