Lucky in Love capped a very successful contest with a Wrap Party honoring Finalists, their guests and local media.  Tears, laughter and applause greeted each couple when their Engagement Story was read.  As the excitement grew, a check representing the Grand Prize amount of $3,500 was presented to our deserving winner, Haley B.

The Gardens at Great Oaks in historic Roswell was the site of the Wrap Party festivities. www.HistoricGreatOaks.com Plates were piled high with the delicious catering provided by Avenue Catering, a division of Saratoga Events Group.  www.avenue-catering.com

Master of Ceremonies, Neal Howard, kept the crowd “engaged” in the evening activities;  great music, audience participation and lots of fun!   www.AtlantasBestDJ.com

The Wrap Party’s many magical moments were beautifully captured by PhotoSynthesis Studio.  www.PhotoSynthesisAtlanta.com

Our thanks to everyone who submitted their Engagement Story…..truly, you are all Lucky in Love!

Let the love light shine!  Our winning Engagement Story features 400 tea lights and a pajama-wearing Bride-to-be!  CONGRATULATIONS to our Grand Prize Winner! Read Haley’s story:

It was a typical Saturday night for me, Ben (my fiancé), my roommate, and her boyfriend. Just watching movies hanging out on the couch. Being the lame school teacher I am, my bedtime is 9:30 EVERY night, and about that time, I headed upstairs to bed leaving them to watch the other movies. Ben had already planned for me to do this…SAD!

Anyway, around 10:30, Ben came into my room and told me to come to the window because there was something I really needed to see. (My room is on the top floor and the window overlooks an open field.)   After blowing him off about two times because I was too tired to get up, he finally sternly told me to get up and look out the window.

I finally got up, and when I did, he pulled open the blinds, and below on the ground outside were 400 tea lights lit that spelled out “Will you Marry me?” I was still half asleep and as I turned around to ask him if this was for me, he was already on bended knee.

 He asked those four words every girl dreams about…I excitedly said yes…in my pajamas!

Thank You to the over 200 Brides-to-be who shared their Engagement Stories with us!  Each and every one was personal and beautiful – you are all Lucky in Love!   The Contest ended for entries on February 28, 2010. Grand Prize package of $3,500 will be awarded on March 10, 2010.

More stories will continue to be posted; these were received prior to the contest end date of February 28, 2010. Congratulations and thanks again to everyone who submitted their Engagement Story. Please come back to see the Grand Prize Story!

Thanks to our sponsors:

Wedding Angels Bridal Boutique www.weddingangels.com , your Bridal bouquet from Blossoms Atlanta www.blossomsatlanta.com, Engagement photo session from Photo Synthesis www.photosynthesisatlanta.com , Bride’s hairstyle from  Plum Tree Salon www.marianbrannon.com, authentic Angel Lane Bakery English Shortbread Wedding Favours www.angellanebakery.com,  Month-of- Wedding Coordination from www.DucoffeWeddingConcierge.com,  along with your Bridesmaids Luncheon from PartyChic   www.partychic.net

Fast forward to Spring 2007.  I had since left Emory and was working as a chemotherapy infusion nurse at Georgia Cancer Specialists.  I still loved working with cancer patients and cherished the unique opportunity my job gave me to get to know my patients, as many of them were receiving treatment once a week for several months.   One day, a new patient, Donna, came in to begin treatment for breast cancer.  I was one of Donna’s nurses and got to know her and her husband, Chuck, quite well.  One day (July 24, 2007, to be exact!), one of Donna’s sons, Matt, came to see her during her chemotherapy infusion.  She introduced us, and Matt and I had a nice conversation.  He was so cute, and had such a great personality!  When he left the clinic that day, I turned to one of my co-workers and said, “Donna’s son is really cute! “ We laughed about it and joked that it would be funny if Matt and I got together and Donna ended up being my mother-in-law.  I really didn’t think too much more about it until the next day when Donna told me that Matt was impressed with me.  I was a little nervous, but I gave her my phone number to pass on to Matt.  He called the next day, and over the next week we spent hours and hours on the phone.  We had our first date on August 1, 2007.  I knew almost from the time we met that he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, after a little over 2 years of dating, I was working hard to get ready to leave on a business trip to Europe the following day with the oncology medical education company I now work for.   I was really stressed and had a lot to do that evening at home to get ready to go.  Matt had called me earlier in the day, and we agreed to meet for a quick low-key dinner so I could get all of my work done and still get to bed at a decent hour since I had to leave for the airport so early.  When I was leaving work that evening, I texted Matt and we decided where to meet for dinner.  I walked to my car, and there was a big Styrofoam ball hanging from my rearview mirror with a note hanging from a string that said “If curious, pull me.”  I pulled the string, and confetti of wedding bells, hearts, and flowers came pouring out of the ball with a note that said, “Will you…..”  My ring was on the end of the string, and Matt appeared from around the corner.  He got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife with a beautiful engagement ring!  I immediately started crying and said “Yes, OF COURSE!!!”  Matt then told me the story of my ring.  He had been asking his mom (who, thankfully, is cancer-free and doing great!)for advice on what to get for me over the previous few months, and she gave him her engagement ring, telling him she really wanted him to have it to use for my ring.  He used her diamond as the center stone of a 3-stone ring and not only was it gorgeous, but it was so special because it came from Donna, the person who introduced Matt and me in the first place!  We then went to dinner, where Matt’s family surprised us with champagne and officially welcomed me into their family.  It was such a special night that we will never forget for the rest of our lives.

Matt and I will be married on August 14, 2010, almost 3 years to the day from our first date.  Since I won’t have my dad there to dance with me for the father-daughter dance, I will dance with my new father-in-law to a recording of my dad singing “Hello Dolly” in his best Louis Armstrong voice, a song that I used to beg him to sing all the time when I was a little girl.  I know he will be there in spirit and will be smiling down on his daughter and new son-in-law on the happiest day of their lives, knowing he, too, had a hand in bringing them together.

After four weeks of rehearsals and a three week long show, we had done this particular scene a multitude of times, as you can imagine.  This final night, however, as we were “strolling along the streets of Paris” and were about to exit the stage, my fiancé, Tommy, pulled me back into the middle of the stage, took me by the hand and got down on one knee.  I literally looked at him with mass confusion in my eyes and whispered “what are you doing, we’re supposed to EXIT!”.  I could not understand why he was messing up on the final show when we had done the scene so many times before!

So here we were, in the middle of the stage, in the MIDDLE of an ongoing show, in front of a paying of audience in excess of THREE HUNDRED people, and he pulls out a diamond ring as says “Will you marry me”.  I was in such shock!!!!  I didn’t know what to do.  I sat there in front of all these people and wondered, am I supposed to stay in character, can I yell, can I be “myself”…. no i can’t be myself, I’m playing a role… but I just got ENGAGED… in the middle of a show…. on stage…. in front of a massive audience!!!!!  Of course I said “YES!” and then we quickly exited off stage where I was greeted by my fellow cast members who were watching the whole proposal from the green room where there is a live video stream of the show.  Everyone was so excited for me!

What made it even better was that this particular night was the night that we had crew there taping the show… so I have a permanent record of our engagement!  The funny thing, however, was after the show several people came up to me and asked whether or not that was “for real”… it seems many people actually believed the whole thing was scripted!  I guess that means I did a pretty good job and staying in character…. or at least that I played a very convincing young girl in love…. because I really was… and still am!!!

I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007 and immediately moved to Florida taking a job as a magazine editor. Unfortunately (or so I thought at the time) I was assigned to work for a rather mean Senior Editor who made it her personal mission to see I was fired in less than six months. She made it happen. So, I “resigned” in the spring of 2008 and moved back home to my parents with my newly acquired puppy (Indiana Jones).

Within a week of moving home, I was hired to become an account executive at a Jezebel magazine. My dream job is to become a Publisher, so this was a great stepping stone. Thanks to a great first month at Jezebel, Jones and I were out of my parents’ house and into a new apartment in Vinings in just a few weeks. Initially, the apartment was so perfect because it was very dog-friendly, with a dog park and trails running down to the Chattahoochee.

Due to financial constraints, I started looking for a second job. I was determined to be independent. Then I met Becca while walking Jones one day. Our mutts hit it off, and when I asked what she did, she told me she had this great gig as a dog walker, and she was making even more money than I was at Jezebel! She set up a meeting with her boss and I was on board! It was fantastic that I could make extra money just by having a dog come stay overnight with Jones and me.

So then one Thursday I got a call from my boss saying this guy Kevin Patrick needs someone to watch his dog Marley starting the next day. She knew my schedule was free, and Marley was only 15 pounds like Jones, so she thought it would be a good fit. The next morning this handsome, tall, lean, freckled red head shows up with the cutest scruffy dog (imagine a black version of Toto from the Wizard of Oz). It was such a “whoa” moment. Our dogs hit it off that weekend, running around non-stop. That Sunday when he came to pick up Marley, I brazenly suggested a play date for the pups. We met the next Saturday, and then he asked me on a real date, sans puppies. Our chemistry is magnetic, and we have literally spent as much time together as possible since the fall of 2008. I officially moved in last May, and our one year anniversary was in August.

In October, we found a cabin in the mountains that was a true honeymooner’s cabin and also dog friendly. We grabbed the pups and hit the road. Much to my surprise, during a hike one afternoon in the Middle-of-Nowhere Tennessee, Kevin pulled out a perfect, 2 carat diamond solitaire. I’ll never forget the most perfect two sentences ever spoken “I was wondering, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife. Lauren, will you marry me?”

All the rocky parts in the road were just part of the path to Kevin and me meeting. If I’d never moved to Florida, found Jones, gotten sacked, moved to an apartment specifically designed for dogs, met Becca, and struggled financially which led to becoming a dog walker then I never would have met the love of my life. It’s amazing how tumultuous those months were leading up to finding the love of my life.

We moved in with each other shortly after we started dating.  I’ll never forget my dad’s reaction to hearing the news, “What does he do?  What do his parents do for a living?  How long have you known each other?  Did you ask him to move in together or did he ask you?”  You get the point – he wasn’t thrilled.

We started off living in a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Athens, GA.  I was gone most of the time with my new job that stuck me in Cleveland, OH for several months at a time.  But when I was home, it was complete lunacy.  We had no personal space and we were still in college mode, which is a lethal combination.  I knew if we could survive that, then we could stand together until the end of time.

Kevin graduated from the University of Georgia and my company moved me to Atlanta, GA.  We learned from our mistake of our last living arrangement and decided to upgrade to a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment.  Needless to say we were much more comfortable with that style of living.  Kevin got a great job with a company where he is still employed.  I was working evenings (wait, that sounds bad…let me finish!) as a call center manager at a (noble) company that assists universities and non-profits in fund-raising for their annual funds.  The difference in our work hours meant that we never got to see each other except when I would come home to say goodnight to Kevin and he would wake me up in the morning to say good-bye for the day.  So, when my client offered me a job with day hours and great benefits I quickly jumped on it.

The most important point I wanted to make is that through these little life experiences we have become one another’s best friend.  This brief history of our relationship somewhat tells you about the journey we’ve already shared.  What has not been captured in this blog is the love we’ve shared for each other over the past four years that has brought us to a point where we want to spend our lives, one by one, together.

Kevin and I went to St. Augustine, FL for New Year’s Eve.  Leading up to the evening of New Year’s, we tasted wine and toured the San Sebastian Winery; we climbed 219 stairs to the top of the Lighthouse; and we ate lunch at an amazing vegan restaurant called The Present Moment Cafe.  We were pretty exhausted after a fun-filled day, so we decided to have a simple dinner.  After I called a few restaurants to check their availability, I chanced across a cute Greek restaurant that was not booked for the holiday.

We had a delicious meal of grape leaves, Greek salads, and spinach pies topped off with red wine and chocolate peanut pie at Athena Restaurant.  After we were filled to the brims of good food and drink, we ventured over to the Unnamed Bar.  Our cab driver from the previous night, “Captain Ed,” recommended the bar.  I believe “Captain Ed” had good intentions when he told us to check out that place, but we weren’t in the mood to stand at a crowded bar all night and listen to an all white Rastafarian band attempt to play reggae.

So, we left and walked around the plaza in the downtown St. Augustine area.  The plaza was still covered in Christmas lights, which created a very romantic setting.  We sat on a bench near a fountain for a little while and then walked to the other side of the square where a gazebo was located.  We started to walk up the gazebo stairs and realized there was a homeless man sleeping on the floor of the gazebo with an empty pizza box next to his head.  Kevin exclaimed, “I thought I heard snoring!”  We didn’t want to disturb his deep slumber, so we continued to walk around the square.  Kevin suggested we go back to the fountain because there was no place to sit, seeing as the gazebo was occupied.

Once we sat down near the fountain, Kevin fumbled with his jacket and looked around to make sure there were not a lot of people walking by us so we could have a private moment.  He said sweet things like “I love you” and would then kiss me, but I could tell he was stalling to say what he really wanted to express.  I giggled and he asked why I was laughing.  I said “You’re just being silly is all.”

He then said, “Well I have a question to ask you.”  Kevin then got on one knee, presented me with an open ring box and asked “Will you marry me?” With tears in my eyes, I exclaimed, “Of course I’ll marry you!”  He got back on the bench and handed me the box. I asked “Aren’t you supposed to put the ring on my finger?”

With a silly grin on his face he asked back, “Oh is that how it works?”  We then took a bunch of pictures for our parents and started to walk around again to look at more of the lights.

It was a very sweet proposal – I loved how it completely portrayed Kevin’s personality.  The proposal also showed how we define our relationship – full of love and laughter.

When I walk in, there were 5 balloons sitting in the living room.  I asked what were they for? I thought they were for his little girl. He told me to go look and see what they are. I walked in the living room and there were the balloons with red heart confetti everywhere.

There was a note that read  ”Candace, you are one of a kind.  Pop each balloon and see what you find.” I popped all the balloons and red confetti went everywhere as I was popping. After popping all the balloons, I asked what I was looking for,  I didn’t see anything.”  Well my boyfriend grabbed the ring that was tied inside the balloon and got down on one knee and asked me  ” Candace will you and Chase (my son) Marry me and Ellie (his daughter) for the rest of my life?”  I cried and cried and was speechless. I said yes of course.

To make a long story short, I recovered and came back home to find that my wife at that time was leaving me and I had to start anew. I moved in with my best friend and brother in arms that helped save my life. Finally got around to start dating again and went on a few dates, but one night I had walked into a restaurant with my buddy and there was this beautiful girl sitting straight through the door way. I walked toward her and sat down at the table next to her. My buddy noticed me staring and told me to go and talk to her. I told him that she probably wouldn’t be interested. Well to my surprise, the next day I got this phone number and was told to call it, it was the girl’s number from the restaurant. So I paced the room for awhile building up my courage to call and so I did.

For the next three weeks we proceeded to hang out with each other and have a good time.  That was two years ago. This Christmas I sat her down in front of her mother and step father and all three of her children which I adore and got down on one knee to propose to her. I got her this heart shaped diamond and asked her to marry me, all the while the children were yelling say yes mom say yes, And she did. After putting on the ring and a little tears rolling down her cheek, she kissed me and said I Love You.

This is my angel that brought me out of my slump in the world; who I could not go without. I love this girl to death and would do anything for her and pray that we will grow old together for the rest of our days.

We became fast friends and study partners.  I even tried fixing him up with a girl in our class that was obviously into him.  I felt this huge sense of relief when he told me that he just wasn’t interested in her.  Then one night, he came over to my apartment to hang out and watch a movie.  As I got up, he asked me to sit down, he wanted to talk to me.  He said, “I like you”.  Me being the comedian I am, I laughed and said, “I like you too”.  He then responded, “No, I mean I really like you, as in for more than friends”.  I was shocked…here was this gorgeous guy with an amazing sense of humor, and he was telling me that he liked the heavy set funny girl.  I had practically stopped looking because most men just don’t seem to be attracted to heavier girls.  He then told me that he looked forward to seeing me, that he loved how I could make him smile and laugh no matter what, that when he wasn’t with me, he wanted to be.  My heart was beating so hard, I thought he could hear it.  From that point on, we were inseparable.

Fast forward a few years, and we have survived a huge change…he received a promotion that required him to move 700 miles away and travel all the time.  It has been hard, but we have worked hard to make this distance seem smaller.

While he was home for the Christmas holidays, I noticed that he was being extra affectionate, and really starting to open up about his feelings.  I thought perhaps maybe he was just in a sentimental kind of mood, especially since Christmas came and went, and no ring.  Then, he asked if I’d like to go to his sister’s for New Year’s Eve.  There we watched movies, shot fireworks, and then, just before midnight, his nephew kept on about playing a game.  Well, this is one of those games where you blindfold someone and give them three bowls of stuff and the person blindfolded has to feel and smell of the items and try to guess what they are.  When it came to my time to play, I could tell John was having a lot of fun with this.  My first item ended up being peanut butter, and by the time it was over, I had it all over my clothes.

After completing my tasks at hand, I removed my blindfold, and there to my right, he was on one knee with a box with the most amazing ring I have ever seen.  He said, “I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?”  I cried like a baby…I was afraid to touch the ring, afraid I was dreaming.  I asked him if the ring was mine, and he responded, “I don’t buy everyone diamonds for New Year’s, of course it’s your’s.  I’ve loved you since day one, I should have asked you years ago, and although I can’t give you back the last three years, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

That has been 11 days ago, and I still get chills thinking about it.  I have finally found my prince charming, and he loves me just as I am!