AFTER THE WOOING STAGE! THE QUESTION WAS POPPED!

After dating for 2 years, the big question was popped! For Christmas 2008, Melody received a trip to swim with the dolphins at Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida from her Mom (Karen). Knowing that Melody has always wanted to swim with the dolphins, this was my perfect chance to pop the question. It worked out great because Melody also booked me a spot to swim with the dolphins for my birthday (2008). With the help of our friend Tassie I planned the big event. To give you a little bit of background on Melody, she is hard to surprise to say the least. So after much preparation I was finally able to combine the dolphin experience with the wedding proposal. The ring was purchased, the dolphin encounter was in place, and on May 8th 2009 the day was finally here.

I would be lying if I said the day went without a hitch. Now I told you that Melody is hard to surprise right?! Well when we were checking in, the entire surprise almost went to the waist side. Tassie went along for the event and it still almost imploded. So we arrive and were standing in line to enter the park. I have the ring and I was instructed to hand over the ring when checking in. It did not occur to me how I was going to do this but I was there and faced with this issue. We were getting closer to checking in and had no idea how to pull this off. Of course wonderful Tassie had a plan. I passed off the ring and Tassie approached the counter leaving Melody and I in line. Tassie made up a story to tell Melody and off she went. A few minutes later, Tassie returned and everything was in place! THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! Moving forward a bit, it was time for the dolphin encounter. The staff informed me that everything was in place. So we took part in the dolphin encounter, which was awesome, and it was time for the big event. The dolphin trainers told Melody that her picture with the dolphin did not come out right and needed to retake the photo. So Melody and I were still in the water and the event unfolded. The dolphin was on the other side of the dolphin water sanctuary and was called by the dolphin trainer to return to us. Melody was inquisitive but had no idea what was about to happen. The dolphin approached us and popped up from underneath the water in front of Melody. The dolphin popped up with a white buoy in its mouth. On the buoy read "My love, will you marry me". The look on Melody's face was priceless. Melody turned around and I asked her to marry me. Of course she said "Yes". We took more photos with the dolphin and exited the water to a private beach area where the staff set up a tropical setting with the ring inside a small treasure chest with tropical flowers. It was a great day that Melody and I will never forget. The rest of the day was perfect.