| Bride & Groom: | Wedding Date: |
| Nici Tomlin & D.J. Ten Hoeve - 3rd Runner Up | September 24, 2004 |
| Engagement Story: | |
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"If I'm going to do this once, and I am, then I'm going to do this right" I remember saying to my friends and colleagues as they continually asked why I was spending countless hours slaving over the tedious plot. For 2 whole months, I hammered away at my plan for July 4, 2003 like Michelangelo raising David from an ivory slab. I could only hope mine would turn out as well. Simply put, I would send Nici on a scavenger hunt to 7 places we frequented during the 3 years we dated and had come to recognize as integral parts of our relationship. My intention was that each place would jog her memory back to a moment passed that defined us as a couple. She'd also pick up the clue to guide her to the next location. From the start she'd travel from our beach house to the "mint jalopy," to the beach where we she spent the day with my family, to our favorite ice cream shoppe (which changed into a Ben and Jerry's), to the mini-golf course where we'd carved our names into a wooden drawbridge 3 years prior, to the restaurant where we had our first date, and finally to the place where we watched countless sunsets for 3 years, night after wonderful night. So here's how I guided her there: #1 Clue The last card said, of course, "Will you marry me?" Read below to find out the details! So, why did it take 2 months
to orchestrate that plan? Well, like I mentioned, I was going
to do this right. A scavenger hunt was different but not uniquely
"me." I took it even a few steps further. Each letter
of each word of each clue was individually cut from a magazine
headline with an X-acto knife and pasted in place onto the card
that corresponded to that stop along the scavenger hunt, to resemble
a "secret admirers" letter (or ransom note, whichever
perspective you prefer). I wrote out a hint on a piece of stationery
that was taped to the back of each hint card, to aid her in finding
her destination. Like I mentioned above, I not only stayed late
at work to put together the hints, but stayed up until 5 am each
night for the 3 nights preceding the proposal. To cover my tracks,
I convinced her that the reason I was so tired was because I
stayed up playing video games with her brother, Chris. She bought
it, because I often do. My hard labor was fruitful and the plan
unfo! Typically we spend as much time as we can on the beach during the summer so this day was not out of the ordinary. After a tiring day, we usually nap under an umbrella; however, today, I convened Nici that she should go home and rest because we would be out late being that it was the 4th of July and our favorite band was playing at our favorite bar up the street! What she didn't know is that during the nap, I was exhausting myself trying to place the cards around the island for the proposal. So after all the clues were placed, while still taking the nap, I put the first clue on her pillow. When she awoke, she read it, got dressed, like the note said, and walked out the front door en route to the "mint jalopy." I was always one step ahead of her to make sure the clues, which I had placed earlier, did not blow away or get snatched by keen onlookers. The Ben & Jerry's crew stood at the ready, to give her whatever ice cream she wanted (and the next clue). The mini-golf course manager was so psyched to be a part of the plan that she arranged spotters throughout the course to ensure flawless execution. As if this plan was not complex enough, we pulled it off on July 4th in Beach Haven, N.J. For those who don't know, Beach Haven is a town on the barrier island called Long Beach Island. At 7:30 PM on July 4th, more than 300,000 islanders rush to Beach Haven to view the best fireworks around. So, I had to ensure that Nici could not only figure out where her next destination was, but that she could get there without being caught in traffic. Because, the climax of the plan was the proposal, at sunset! on the bay. So I sat there on the bench we had sat on so many times before watching the golden sun gradually dip a fraction more of itself below the far reaching horizon, shedding light on some other island on the opposite side of the planet. I went through all of this effort not just to make our engagement day perfect, but to make it memorable. I wanted to give Nici a story that she would remember forever; a story that she could tell our kids and our grandchildren with tears in her eyes. Around the corner she walked, sweaty and parched from the extravagant journey she had been on, but looking more radiant than the sun that was disappearing. I handed her the last clue, and, while I watched her mouth the words "will you marry me" to herself, I dropped to one knee and asked aloud that same question that she was reading in the card. Yes! |
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| Prize Awarded: | |
| $100 OFF Band (3 piece or more - 3 hour rate) or DJ/MC (2 men package) from Dynasty Entertainment/Jack Goodman Orchestras & Ensembles (new clients only / may not be used with other discounts) | |
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