I was maid of honor at my best friends wedding and invited my boyfriend, Dan, to come as my guest. We had been dating for almost two years so things were pretty serious between us. Up until now Dan has avoided the marriage conversation but something was weird about him at the wedding. He knew my friends that were getting married and he seemed very pleased with the whole wedding thing with them. Up until now he really didn’t say much about it. He was acting very strangely toward me, like he was up to something. Yet he wouldn’t say anything. I just tried to ignore the trip he was on so I could enjoy the day.

Everything was going well with the wedding. The dinner was great. We had roasted chicken with a garlic cream sauce, green beans and roasted potatoes. Champagne was flowing freely and I like the buzz I get off champagne. The bride and groom managed to make it through the cake feeding without much incident. I was surprised about that. I was sure that Sherry was going to nab Craig, but she took her usual deviant attitude and hid it behind love today. I know she was debating on whether to do it or not and I’m happy she decided not to do it.

Then it came to the bouquet toss. I ended up in the front of the crowd. Sherry checked to see where everyone was positioned and then threw the bouquet straight at me. It seemed planned, but at the time I didn’t know for sure. I caught it!

The garter toss was next. Craig very gracefully removed the garter from Sherry’s leg with a lot of hoop la from the audience. My boyfriend stood up and went to the front of the crowd of single men. Once again, Craig seemed to look to see where everyone was standing. He threw the garter straight at Dan. Dan caught it! “What’s up with that”, I thought.

Now Dan proceeded to take that garter and put it on my thigh. OK! I’d rather he do it than someone else I didn’t know. The crowd was cheering him on with gusto. I was kind of embarrassed. He placed the garter on my leg very slowly and carefully. He sure was taking his time. When he finally had it where it belonged, he stood up, took both my hands and helped me to stand as well. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a beautiful solitaire diamond set in platinum that had to be at least a caret and a half. He looked me in the eyes and asked if I would honor him by being his wife. I told him it would be my pleasure and he placed the ring on my finger.

The crowd was still with shock now. I looked over at Sherry and Craig and they were grinning from ear to ear. Sherry said in front of everyone, “Well, Julie, you caught the bouquet and that means you are next. I don’t mind sharing my day with you for a moment because you are my best friend and I want you to have the same happiness we have. Everyone now was laughing and congratulating us.

I looked at Dan and said, “I love you to pieces and I also knew you were up to something. I just had no idea it was this. What a nice surprise”. He told me he loved me very much and that they all had this set up. How fun?

The dancing went on for a couple more hours. Sherry and Craig came up and congratulated us on the way out the door. They were off to Jamaica for ten days. Dan and I went home and celebrated our engagemeent.

Thanks for letting me share my fun story,

Julie Bixby