She said yes!

The Best Man, Josiah, had met Roberta at church. They realized they were both in business and Roberta was interested in learning more about Josiah's studying abroad so they agreed to meet up for coffee - Tuesday, 1pm. It was 2016 and Evan and Josiah were working together at a small digital agency in Hamilton after meeting during their MBAs in Wales. Tuesday at 1pm rolled around and Josiah hadn't had time to prepare a ton for their conversation so he asked Evan to join them for a quick coffee chat to talk about Wales and their studies at the University of South Wales. There was certainly mutual attraction, but Roberta and Evan kept their business faces on while discussing Business, the UK, and, (knowing Evan), probably the stock market. In fact, they kept their business faces on so well, that after that meeting they did not talk in person again for over a year. How romantic!

It was mid 2019 when I started thinking about marrying Roberta and what a proposal would have to look like for her to say yes (she has very high standards, after all). I thought back to our first trip together, to New York City in 2017, before we were dating. We had our first kiss on New Years Eve during that trip right in the middle of Central Park. I also remembered that my friends Sebastian and Kristen, who live around Manhattan, had been asking Roberta and I to visit them again. This seemed like the perfect scenario, so I started trying to figure out how I might be able to get Roberta back there and still surprise her. I needed to first confirm that Sebastian and Kristen would even be in the country for New Years (since Sebastian is a friend I met from my time in the UK and is from Germany). After that, I wanted to get a few ideas for rings, and piece a few more details together. I lightly floated the idea by a few friends who were all incredibly supportive of the idea, which gave me the confidence to bring it up with my parents. They were of course ecstatic as well so then I was off for my biggest challenge yet - speaking to Roberta's Parents. Asking Roberta's parents was the most tense part of the process up to this point - but definitely good preparation for the proposal, in hindsight! I messaged her dad, Elie, directly and asked if I could come over one night. I had never asked this before and just as all the "best practices when asking for her dad's permission for marriage" articles had suggested, this peculiar request alerted them that something big was coming which helped ease us into the conversation and gave them time to discuss my request on their own time, if they needed it (I'm sure they needed it). In the end, it was a great conversation that lasted over an hour. They asked about my plan (which made me thankful that I had one) and then they prayed over our future marriage. And so, the plan was set, now I just needed to get Roberta to NYC!

It was Christmas, 2019, and I was at my parents place with Roberta before we left to New York for the surprise proposal. One quiet morning, Lisa began asking how I was feeling and if I was nervous. Her parting advice was to stick to the plan, no matter what. "She deserves an amazing proposal, Evan". And just like that, we were off. I'd read dozens of articles on how to ask her parents for permission, how to propose, and what you should say when proposing. I'd talked to my closest friends and family, ordered and received a ring, and planned a trip to New York. And yet, in the end, I left with just this one piece of advice, "She deserves an amazing proposal, Evan". Fast forward to Dec 31st: we had a fun day planned that would be highlighted (or so Roberta thought) by visiting the Statue of Liberty. It was going to be great, but I unfortunately wasn't certain that we would make it back to our accommodation before the big night. This meant that I had to carry the ring - THE WHOLE DAY! I found an inner pocket of my coat to store the ring and its box and we set off for the day. A short 30 minutes later we were at the ferry terminal for the statue and I was instantly terrified. Full. Airport-style. Security. Metal detectors, xrays, and security wands... and I had no idea which, if any, would detect the ring. Miraculously, I darted to another line away from Roberta claiming "this line is shorter" so I was able to go through without her seeing anything. But after that scare it was very tempting to propose as soon as we got to the statue. The Manhattan skyline in the background, and us taking photos together would have been a near-perfect time to propose. But it wasn't THE perfect time. That wouldn't come until after we finished at the Statue of Liberty and walked most of lower manhattan throughout the day. We had a lovely dinner near Central Park and ended up arriving just in time for fireworks. In the end it was an amazing proposal indeed. Thanks Lisa!