Weddingbee

Last night was the birthday of one of Mr. Bluebell’s friends, so she invited us out to L’Ecole, the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute, to celebrate - just her, her boyfriend, Mr. Bluebell & I. 

We had a lovely dinner (their 5 course prix fixe is only $39.95 & incredible, because all the cooking is done by the students!) and then R, the boyfriend, told C that he had a birthday present for her. He gave her a card labeled “To C - Card 1″ and explained to us that they usually give each other a lot of cards, so this was part of that tradition. She asked “Is this going to make me cry?” and he said, “No, no, this is the funny one.” She read it and laughed, and he handed her a gift bag. She pulled out a coffee table book that was just perfect for her, and then he said “Wait - there’s something else in the bag!”

This is when my senses started heightening a little. They’ve been together nearly five years, and we were at a fancy restaurant and it was her birthday….

Then she pulled a CD out of the bag! They talked about that for a minute, and he said, oh and here’s the second card. She gave him a loooong look before opening it, and then, predictably, got a bit choked up after she read it. He then said “Should I?” and Mr. Bluebell and I, on the edge of our seats, are like “SHOULD HE WHAT?!?!?!?” But he explained that the card said all those mushy things they usually say to each other in cards, but don’t say aloud. Since C had previously pointed out that R is only ever mushy in card form, he ended the card with “and I want to say them aloud to you now.” So she nodded and he gave a beautiful little speech about how much he loves her.

Surprisingly, by this point, my guard was down. I thought it was a really sweet card and moment, but he’d already given her the birthday gift so we were about to go home now. But then at the very very end of his speech he suddenly repeated the same sentence about three times…and really, he’s an intelligent and well-spoken guy in general, so I was thinking “why would he just say the same thing over again?” before I realized it was because he was really really nervous.

Then right at that moment, he said, “C, will you marry me?”

Her first reaction was “Are you f***ing serious?!?”

Followed a moment later by all the appropriate mushiness and the shock at trying on the ring, and giddiness, and crying, and staring at the ring, and all that jazz.

The waiter came by after a minute to clear our plates and politely didn’t interfere in what was an obviously emotional moment, but I could tell he was trying to surreptitiously figure out what had happened, so I told him they had just gotten engaged! He was soooo cute and delighted and brought us over some celebratory pink champagne on the house! He said he had gone back and asked his manager if he could please comp it for us, and then she got all excited too and insisted upon it!

Regardless, the ring is gorgeous and we are so so happy for them!!

But mainly, CONGRATULATIONS C & R!!!! And thank you for letting us be a part of your proposal!!!

(image via citysearch)