Tuesday, June 7, 2011

On A Serious Note: The Love Of My Life…

WARNING: You may find me irresistible after reading this post.  It is an understandable and natural feeling.  

Humor and sarcasm aside…

I recently had the honor of my truly incredible girlfriend, Jennifer, answering my question proposing marriage in the affirmative.  It felt great to finally ask her after months of planning!  It made for what will be the most memorable birthday I will ever have, and I anticipate many years of happiness ahead of us as we begin our life together.

I knew I had to make the proposal special for her.  She deserved something surprising and memorable.  Further, it had to be a story worth telling over and over again…

Our third date was the First Friday event on Massachusetts Avenue on Friday, October 1, 2010.  First Friday is an event where, on the first Friday of every month, the art galleries and shops along Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis open their doors and invite the public to view displays of local artwork; it is also a great opportunity to walk along with someone, talking and getting to know them. 

As we walked from gallery to gallery, I fell more and more in love with her that night.  I knew that she would be the woman I would spend the rest of my life making happy (or at least trying to do my best…).  Because of the significance of First Friday on Mass Ave, I knew it had to be incorporated into my proposal. 

I began looking at the calendar to pick the best First Friday to propose.  In reviewing the possible dates, I realized that my birthday was going to fall on the first Friday of June.  I quickly decided that this would be the perfect day to propose…I knew she would not suspect a thing on my birthday.  For all she knew, we were going to go out with my Brother and his fiancé to celebrate my birthday.  Perfect!  Furthermore, as a bonus, I would never forget the date on which I proposed :) BONUS! – Thank you, Andrew, for realizing that’s how I roll…

Now that I knew when, I needed to figure out how…It seemed the only logical way to propose would be to incorporate some artwork in one of the galleries.  I knew she wanted something relatively small and intimate, so I decided to contact The Art Bank Gallery, which has many small rooms.  I thought (emphasis on thought!) this would be the best way to avoid an overly public proposal…

Dan at The Art Bank was instrumental in the success of my proposal, and I thank him immensely.  He was onboard from the moment I contacted him in March, and he went out of his way to make sure it was a special event for Jennifer and me.

On April 30, my Brother, Justin, and his fiancé, Lynnette, were kind enough to meet me at the IMA at 9:00 AM to help create the photograph which would be the basis for the proposal.  He took a series of five photos of me holding up signs in front of Robert Indiana’s “LOVE” sculpture on the grounds of the IMA.  He compiled each of the five images into one composite image which showed me holding signs that, together, stated. “I, Bryan…Propose That…You, Jen…Be My Wife…Marry Me?”.


And so the plan progressed…I had the image printed on a 16”x 20” canvas, and chose to add some more personalization by doing a paint-over with acrylic paints.  Big props to my Nana and Papa French for the artistic genes, and my high school art teacher, Mrs. Martin for her tutelage.  I know Nana and Mrs. Martin would be proud, and are surely smiling down from Heaven…After putting the finishing touches on the canvas, I procured a frame and prepared the piece to be hung in The Art Bank.

Having wrapped up the details, my next step was to secure the blessing of Jennifer’s parents.  I was hoping to find time during a family gathering, but given the fact that Jen was on high alert for signs of an upcoming proposal, I thought it would be best to set aside some time to meet with them privately.  Jim and Susan were kind enough to grant me their blessing over a super secret dinner in Shelbyville on Monday, May 16th.  And so the plan progressed…

Everyone did a great job of keeping my secret plan over the next few weeks, even over Memorial Day Weekend - Thank you, Susan :).  The week of my birthday was only a four day work week, and should have been short.  It was the longest four days of my life…

Finally, Friday, June 3 arrived!  I had dropped off the painting at The Art Bank the week before, and everything was falling into place.  I was paranoid about losing the ring in my pocket while at work that day, so I decided to sew it into the fabric of my pocket.  It seemed like a great idea at the time, but lead to a struggle when attempting to extract the ring before popping the question!

As we arrived at The Art Bank, I was fortunate enough to find a parking spot right next to the building – I think it was God’s way of helping out as we were running behind schedule….We perused the gallery, discussing paintings that would look good in Jennifer’s new house.  My heart was pounding, and I was concerned Jen would notice the beads of sweat I felt forming on my unusually large forehead (thank you, receding hairline…)  Fortunately, she was still unaware as to what was about to happen…

I am a huge nerd, so I had planned the moment with Justin and Lynnette, providing a schematic as to how everything was going to happen.  We would go upstairs, and I would lead Jen around the room and circle back to the painting on the wall.  It was going to be perfect!


We proceeded upstairs to the room in which the painting was hung.  Much to my surprise, the room was packed with the gallery artists who knew what was about to happen.  To intimidate me further, there was also a Channel 8 News camera in the room!  My small, intimate, and non-public proposal had quickly transformed into quite an ordeal!  The room was far too crowded for my plan to work…

Jennifer was wary of going into the room due to the sheer number of people, and the presence of the camera.  I panicked…Things are sort of a blur, but I believe I actually pushed her into the room.  I guided her to the painting, and as she read the signs and put it all together, I dropped to one knee and sputtered out the words as best at I could.  I am uncertain as to what I actually said, but I do know that it is not what I planned on saying.  All I know for sure is that I was able to end with, “Will you marry me?”, to which she replied “Yes”!

Never in a million years did I think we would end up on the news…So much for a simple and intimate proposal!  I am happy that it worked out the way it did, even with all the unanticipated publicity.  It turns out, one of the artists on display in the gallery, Joy Hernandez, is also a videographer for the Channel 8 news team.  She was kind enough to film the happenings for me, and was also able to get us on the 6:00 news the next day.  Unbelievable!

So here I am, 4 days later, still wondering if this has all been a dream.  So many aspects are surreal, and I am having difficulty believing everything came together so well.  God is great, my friends.  I surprised her, it was certainly memorable, and we will definitely have a story worth repeating over and over again….

I am so blessed to have Jennifer in my life, and even more blessed to have the opportunity to call her my fiancé, and eventually wife…Thanks be to God, and to everyone else who helped me pull this off!

1 comment:

  1. A great recap of a memorable weekend. Thanks for letting us share it with you and Jennifer. Love you both!

    ReplyDelete