K. F., Bronte, Texas

I first met my fiancé, Aaron, when we were in junior high. I was in eighth grade and he was in seventh. He lived in the same area as my best friend so they knew each other. When I went to a school dance she introduced us and we danced. I really liked him but he didn't want a girlfriend. After that I didn't see him until I was in tenth grade and he started to date my best friend at the time. They decided they didn't want to date anymore so I called him to talk to him and ended up talking for six hours.

We began dating and he is the most sweetest guy. After we had been dating a while I had a dream that he asked me to marry him. In the dream he gave me a jewelry box that had four drawers in it. In each drawer there were notes that told of how much he loved me. I told him about it at the time but forgot about it until recently.

For our fifth year anniversary (March 19, 2001), he took me out to eat. I was joking with him asking if he was going to propose. He said no because he couldn't get the ring yet. He did say he had something planned but not to get my hopes up. He really had me confused because he kept saying that I should have brought some extra clothes and things like that.

After we were done eating we went out to the car and drove around for a while. He said to me "I have to blindfold you because I don't want you to see where we're going." So he blindfolded me and he drove around. When we stopped he told me not to look yet and got out of the car. He finally came back and got me. He held my hand and guided me around (I had no idea where I was!). We stopped and he said "O.K. now you can look. "

He took the blindfold off and we were in the gym of our junior high! He went to the stereo on the table and turned on a song (Steven Curtis Chapman's "I will be here"). He turned to me and asked me to dance. It was so sweet. Of course I cried because I am so lucky. After the song was done he told me to go over to the bleachers. There on the bleachers was a jewelry box. I took it to the table. He said to open the drawers and start on the left side. I opened each one and in each one was a note saying how much he loved me and how lucky he was.

When I got to the last drawer and note (he told me not to turn around until I read all the notes) he said he loved me and he always would then it said to turn around. I did and he was down on one knee with a ring box in his hand. He proposed and how could I possibly say no to a guy like that. He even asked my parents permission before asking. There are still perfect men in the world.

V. K., Morgantown, West Virginia

Ken and Nichole had been boyfriend/girlfriend for four years. Nichole was getting a little annoyed that the relationship wasn't going to the next level, but Ken was stubborn. "Marriage is just a legality," he would say, "It's just a piece of paper. Why do I need to put on a big show to prove to the world that I love you? I committed myself to you long ago and I have four years under my belt to prove it." But his song and dance around marriage was getting old, and he knew it. She was his everything.

But after all these years of being unabashedly "anti-marriage", how could he propose to her in a believable and special enough way? He knew that if he was going to do it, he had to do it BIG. Fortunately for him, he was a painter. Even more fortunately, he painted sets for the world famous Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. The theater would provide for him the ultimate venue to produce the big event.

That fall's Shakespeare production was "Loves Labours Lost." The set was a gorgeous, multilevel Victorian church motif with beautiful murals that mechanically scrolled through all four seasons. The "Spring" setting was a perfect backdrop for romance. Another interesting thing about that set was the custom-built elevator that lifted several different statues up to stage level from below the deck. As Ken watched the "Loves Labours Lost" set come together, an idea started to form in his head that would change his and Nichole's lives forever. It took him three months to organize, but on October 16, 2000 he was poised to attempt the scariest performance of his life. It happened like this:

For several weeks before the big night Nichole was led to believe that she and Ken would be attending a performance of Shakespeare's "Loves Labours Lost." Meanwhile, Ken had scripted an entirely different event to take place. On the big night, friends, family and coworkers of the couple invited by Ken came early and filled the seats of the theater to be the special audience. As Ken pretended to be running late for the play, friends subtly coerced Nichole to the theatre and ushered her into a designated seat. As soon as Nichole was where they wanted her, the running crew, who all had volunteered to help Ken, dimmed the house lights and began to play special music over the speakers.

As the show lights faded up Ken, wearing a tuxedo was lifted up through the stage floor on a hidden elevator. Until this point, Nichole still had no idea that anything was out of place, and even when she saw Ken literally rise up out of the stage floor dressed to nines she thought, "What is Ken doing in this play?" It was only when Ken stepped off the elevator and began to speak that Nichole was hit with what was really going on.

The first word out of Ken's mouth was, "Love." He paused, and then repeated, "Love. What can you do? For some people it happens in a flash, but for people like me — people who you might say are cautious... okay, scared. For people like me, Love has to move on tiptoes and catch you bit by bit. It can be a slow process, but it happens. It definitely happens."

He went on to perform a short speech that he had written about the simple moments that lead to love, the small things about Nichole that had captured his heart, and then called Nichole up onto the stage. This was the part he had been most worried about. He was worried she might be so shocked that she'd just run out of the building, but in a daze she left her seat and joined him on stage. Ken took her hand and said a few words, but when he reached the point where he was supposed to ask "the big question" he pretended to forget his line.

In the great old theatrical fashion he called offstage, "Line!" and sign was flown in from above that read, "Will you marry me, Nichole?" Ken then got to his knees, produced the ring (a beautiful marquis-cut diamond) and asked her the question on the sign. Her answer was an immediate "Yes!" and flower petals showered down from a computer-operated machine above the stage. As they embraced under the bright lights, the special audience gave them a heartfelt standing ovation.

It was magical, emotional, overwhelming, and perfect.

N. F., San Diego, California