i keep a diary

May 25, 2008

Memorial Day Engagement Surprise

I first met Meredith at a karaoke party in the basement of Remote Lounge in March of 2004. I was there was some friends singing karaoke, and she was there celebrating her 24th birthday. We were introduced by our mutual friend, Catrinel. (Here's the very first picture I ever took of Meredith from that night!). I thought Meredith was really cute, but Catrinel told me she had a boyfriend.

Three months later, I ran into Meredith again at Sarah Lewitinn's Memorial Day BBQ at 3A. We started chatting and when she told me that she'd recently broken up with the guy she'd been dating, I slyly suggested that if she "ever wanted to go out sometime, solely for the purpose of making her ex-boyfriend know that she had already moved on" that I was totally available to help. Meredith took me up on it and the rest is history.

Sarah's Memorial Day BBQ in 2008 was the four year anniversary of us getting together, and I figured that it would be the perfect place for me to surprise Meredith and propose! I invited a bunch of our mutual friends to the party to witness the surprise!

meredith
On Monday, we took it easy around the house. Meredith was busy doing some arts and crafts while I did my best to pretend that I didn't have a ring in my pocket and that I wasn't nervous about proposing at a party in front of all of our friends in just a few hours.
crafts ˆ paint ˆ meredith
Craft-master Meredith.
crafts ˆ flower
catrinel, ellen, jb, jeet, quinn, sarah, shruti
We started walking over to Sarah's house at 5:30. I secretly texted the party and told them that we were on the way and that anyone who was there from out of town should go up on to the roof and hide for a while so that Meredith wouldn't get tipped off to the fact that something was up!
apt 3a ˆ catrinel ˆ ellen ˆ jb ˆ jeet ˆ quinn ˆ sarah ˆ shruti
catrinel, ellen, me
Hahaha. Here's me arriving at the party and making a "Meredith has no idea that I'm about to propose" face while Cat gives me a purple nurple.
apt 3a ˆ tit squeeze ˆ catrinel ˆ ellen ˆ me
Sarah had put together a huge feast....
bbq ˆ food
sarah
...and was also GRILLING INDOORS wtih some big, crazy George Foreman grill that you plug into the wall.
apt 3a ˆ bbq ˆ grill ˆ sarah
amanda, scott ward, siege
Indoor grilling in June in a NYC-sized apartment = 1,000 degrees Farenheit. Meredith was like "It's so hot in here, let's go up on to the roof" and everyone had to keep making up excuses about why we were staying in the roasting-hot apartment.
apt 3a ˆ sweaty ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward ˆ siege
karen, posh tony, sarah h
Every time someone would catch my eye and they were sure Meredith wasn't looking, I'd get cheered on. Hahaha.
sweaty ˆ karen ˆ posh tony ˆ sarah h
meredith, piper, siege, vince
Meredith, Siege and Piper (and Vince in the background).
meredith ˆ piper ˆ siege ˆ vince
catrinel, meredith
After successfully getting settled in to the party without Meredith suspecting anything, Catrinel initiated the next stage of the plan and got Meredith to sit down on the very same couch that she'd been sitting on four years ago when we decided to go on our first date! (Cat was like "It's really hot - come sit here on the couch with me and I can fan us!" Smooooooth.)
apt 3a ˆ couch ˆ fan ˆ sweaty ˆ catrinel ˆ meredith
me
With Meredith in place on the couch and still not suspecting anything, it was time for THE PROPOSAL. Here's me doing my best to pretend I'm not nervous while a couple people sneaked out of the party and rounded up all the guest hiding up on the roof.
nervous ˆ proposal ˆ me
me, meredith, piper
While Meredith sat on the couch, all of the roof guests quietly sneaked into the apartment but stayed by the door out of Meredith's sight. With everyone in place, I took a deep breath and tried to pretend that I was just casually joining her on the couch. As soon as I sat down next to her, the noisy party instantly went completely silent and Meredith noticed that everyone at the entire party was looking at the two of us and aiming cameras at us. Before she could ask what was happening, I asked "Remember four years ago when you asked me out on this couch?"
apt 3a ˆ couch ˆ proposal ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ piper
me, meredith
Before she could answer, I got down on knee and popped the big one! She was so surprised that at first she didn't say anything. She just kept looking around totally surprised trying to process what was happening.
apt 3a ˆ best ˆ couch ˆ proposal ˆ surprise ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
me, meredith
Hahaha.
apt 3a ˆ couch ˆ proposal ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
me, meredith
As the surprise wore off, she just started laughing and laughing. Her first words back to me after my proposal were inspired by Bret Michaels and VH1's awesomely terrible Rock of Love. She asked, "Will you stay in this house and continue to rock my world?" Hahaha.
apt 3a ˆ couch ˆ laugh ˆ proposal ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
me, meredith
Yay!
apt 3a ˆ kiss ˆ proposal ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
amanda, ellen, fatty, jeet, nick, sarah, sarah h, scott ward
Here's the everyone at the party cheering. Awwww.
apt 3a ˆ best ˆ proposal ˆ yell ˆ amanda ˆ ellen ˆ fatty ˆ jeet ˆ nick ˆ sarah ˆ sarah h ˆ scott ward
me, meredith
Great success!
apt 3a ˆ proposal ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
brother lawrence, karen, katie, meredith, posh tony, siege, vince
Here's Meredith realizing that there's a whole bunch of her friends from out of town hiding in the corner!
apt 3a ˆ point ˆ proposal ˆ brother lawrence ˆ karen ˆ katie ˆ meredith ˆ posh tony ˆ siege ˆ vince
Here's the whole thing captured on video courtesy of Siege. (My favorite part is after all 15 seconds of kissing and the room yelling of the word "woo," it gets quiet for a second and Sarah goes "WAIT, DID SHE SAY YES?")
apt 3a ˆ proposal ˆ video ˆ me ˆ meredith
audrey, david k, ellen, fatty, me, murdo, nick, sandy, sarah h, shruti
Here's my taking a photo of...
proposal ˆ audrey ˆ david k ˆ ellen ˆ fatty ˆ me ˆ murdo ˆ nick ˆ sandy ˆ sarah h ˆ shruti
karen, meredith, posh tony
...Meredith's over-sized engagement ring. I had to custom order it in her size (because she has teeny tiny fingers) but the custom ring didn't arrive in time so I had to propose with a ring that only fit on Meredith's thumb! Hahaha.
proposal ˆ ring ˆ thumbs up ˆ karen ˆ meredith ˆ posh tony
audrey, david k, ellen, fatty, murdo, nick, sandy, sarah h, shruti
More cheering and smiles. I love this photo so much!
proposal ˆ audrey ˆ david k ˆ ellen ˆ fatty ˆ murdo ˆ nick ˆ sandy ˆ sarah h ˆ shruti
me, meredith, sarah h
You're the man now, dog. Hahaha.
point ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h
Thanks so much to everyone who came and helped keep it a surprise!
me, meredith
Happy!
laugh ˆ sweaty ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
david k, meredith
Time for congratulations! David and Meredith.
beer ˆ proposal ˆ david k ˆ meredith
ellen, me
Ellen and me.
kiss ˆ ellen ˆ me
meredith, murdo
Murdo was one of the out of town guests who hid out and surprised Meredith!
beer ˆ meredith ˆ murdo
amanda, katie, siege
Amanda, KT and Siege.
amanda ˆ katie ˆ siege
catrinel, murdo, sarah h
Post-proposal party in full-effect.
apt 3a ˆ crowd ˆ catrinel ˆ murdo ˆ sarah h
jeet
Gurj was rocking a novelty candy bra. You know, just the usual.
bra ˆ fan ˆ jeet
jeet, meredith
Meredith out of nowhere: CANDY BRA NOM NOM NOM! Hahaha. I love Gurj's expression in this photo so much. It's totally due to the fact that Meredith is FULL ON cupping her entire right boob and it makes me LOL every time I look at it.
best ˆ bite ˆ tit squeeze ˆ uncomfortable ˆ jeet ˆ meredith
byron, murdo, sandy
Byron, Murdo & Sandy went to college with Meredith and came to the party to surprise her!
byron ˆ murdo ˆ sandy
adam, audrey
Audrey and Adam!
adam ˆ audrey
jeet
Here's a picture of Gurj eating indoor-grilled chicken in sunglasses and a candy-bra. NBD.
best ˆ bite ˆ sunglasses ˆ wtf ˆ jeet
josh m, lisa g, posh tony
No longer having a reason to stay in the sweltering apartment, we decided to take the party up to the roof. Posh Tony, Josh and Lisa!
josh m ˆ lisa g ˆ posh tony
byron, murdo, sandy, sarah h
Wesleyan crew!
roof ˆ byron ˆ murdo ˆ sandy ˆ sarah h
Skyline north.
nyc ˆ roof ˆ skyline
catrinel, fatty, katie, sarah h, siege
Fatty, Sarah, Cat, Siege and KT.
roof ˆ catrinel ˆ fatty ˆ katie ˆ sarah h ˆ siege
amanda, brother lawrence, scott ward
Scott, Amanda and Brother Lawrence.
roof ˆ amanda ˆ brother lawrence ˆ scott ward
me, meredith
The Soon-to-be Battjers! (I love this pic so much).
best ˆ nyc ˆ roof ˆ skyline ˆ sunglasses ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
Skyline south at sunset!
nyc ˆ roof ˆ skyline ˆ sunset
amanda, byron, fatty, katie, sandy, scott ward, siege
A little after 7pm, we thanked Sarah for her hospitality and then all piled into Sarah's elevator to head out.
bike ˆ elevator ˆ amanda ˆ byron ˆ fatty ˆ katie ˆ sandy ˆ scott ward ˆ siege
catrinel, me, meredith, sarah h
And even more people squeezed in on the other side!
elevator ˆ catrinel ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h
catrinel, sarah h
A bunch of people headed home, but Catrinel, Sarah...
street ˆ walking ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h
amanda, scott ward
...Scott and Amanda...
street ˆ walking ˆ amanda ˆ scott ward
catrinel, sarah h
...decided to walk to our apartment to play some Rock Band! I love how as soon as Sarah realized I was taking pics of her and Catrinel walking she...
street ˆ walking ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h
catrinel, sarah h
...decided to strike a sexy little glam pose. Yowsa!
street ˆ walking ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h
amanda, catrinel, sarah h, scott ward
Straight down to business!
rockband ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h ˆ scott ward
amanda, catrinel, sarah h, scott ward
Hahaha. Killing it. I love this pic.
rockband ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel ˆ sarah h ˆ scott ward
amanda, catrinel, katie, meredith, sarah h, scott ward, siege
Then a couple songs later, Meredith, KT and Siege joined the party and we all nerded out together. Just cuz you're getting married doesn't mean you gotta grow up or anything! Thanks to everyone for keeping the surprise a secret and for coming out to help me surprise Meredith! It meant so much to have so many people we love be there to share that huge moment in our lives!
rockband ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel ˆ katie ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h ˆ scott ward ˆ siege

8 comments

  • staceyjune 8, 2010

    sniff, sniff.. this is so cute. :)

  • kellyjune 8, 2010

    holy crap, i know this really happened ages ago but it seriously made my day! LOVE!

  • jasonjune 9, 2010

    Awesome man! Congrads!

    You gotta get that video working, this sounds sweet

  • emmajune 9, 2010

    Maybe I'm PMS-ing, but this totally made me tear up!

  • kejune 9, 2010

    and once again, I melted!

  • ellen hartjune 9, 2010

    Re-watching the video made me so weepy. That was possibly the happiest day ever! So cute! And i forgot that Piper was all up in your bizness as you were proposing! hahahah.

  • meredithjune 10, 2010

    Wow. Of course the answer was going to be yes, but this was BALLSY!

    Also, Murdo, promise you'll never go back to that hairstyle.

  • galmatronaugust 4, 2010

    Who knew? Coffee ice pops in the freezer. You two are perfect for each other... love