#WillYouPerryMe #EatDrinkAndBePerry

“I think Colin is going to propose on my birthday.” Sydney’s 24th birthday started out like any other birthday she’d had, but she had a feeling that it was going to be the most special one yet. She couldn’t be sure, but this was the day that she thought Colin was going to ask her to marry him. She thought something had to be up when he suggested that they recreate their first date in their college town when they went bowling last year. He convinced her to take a half day off of work, got her Chick-fil-a for lunch, and then packed the car for an overnight stay in Cookeville, TN. The entire car ride over Sydney was thinking that this had to be it because he usually doesn't make such a big deal out of birthdays. She couldn't be sure, though, because each time she thought he was doing something out of the ordinary, she talked herself out of it because she thought it was too good to be true. He was doing a really good job of keeping the secret. After getting ready, he took her to Char, which is their favorite restaurant. They had a wonderful meal, but Sydney's hopes started going down because it started to get dark outside and she thought he would want to have pictures taken, so it couldn't be in the dark. After dinner, they headed over to Cream City for their favorite ice cream and then walked over to Dogwood Park. At the park, Colin walked Sydney over to the same bench they had spent their first anniversary on 4 and a half years before. After sitting and chatting for a little while, Sydney bumped Colin's pocket and felt something that she thought was his wallet. Colin then asked Sydney if she wanted her birthday present now, and pulled the ring out of his pocket. "Hey Sydney.... will you marry me?"

We met in our high school band room. I was a freshman and Colin was a junior. We had given each other little waves and hellos from time to time, but nothing really came of it until the summer before sophomore/senior year. I was bored at home one day and saw that Colin was on Facebook, so I sent him a message saying that he was responsible for entertaining me. We started messaging and texting a lot to get to know each other and spent time together on our lunchbreaks during band camp that year. The night before the start of the second week of band camp, I asked Colin if he had a crush on anybody, and he said yes and that he was going to ask her out at band camp that week. I was so excited and thought that it was going to come first thing the next morning, but he had the audacity to wait three whole days before mustering up the courage. Here we are, 9 years later planning a wedding that we never anticipated happening. It feels pretty cool to be marrying your high school sweetheart. 10/10 would recommend.