Weddingbee

Mr. Martini somehow masterminded the most elaborate proposal for me. I had absolutely no idea it was going to happen at all - it was just a complete shocker for me! Although we have briefly spoken here and there about marriage in general, I didn’t like talking about “our” wedding or “our future life together” until we were actually engaged. I saw engagement as the next step, something completely different than being in a relationship. Although I knew and he always said he knew we were going to be forever, I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. What, me? Jaded? No way!

Little did I know, he had been plotting for quite a while. To sum it all up in a jpeg, below is a snapshot of the actual spreadsheet he sent to our friends a couple of weeks before E-Day:

He created a scavenger hunt with a twist - he wanted to include our closest friends to help guide me through my “adventure”. Every stop had a different friend waiting for me to help me on to my next clue. There were two main reasons he did this. When Mr. Martini revealed this budding idea to my two best friends, the first thing they said was, “uhhhh. I think she’s going to get lost”. It’s true, I have no sense of direction and I don’t know my way around NYC. I would have probably ended up in Coney Island or something. He admitted later that he was nervous about letting me roam the streets alone. The second reason was that he thought asking our friends to participate would make it that much special, and it did! That was my absolute favorite part of the whole day.

Location One: Brunch

Something told me it was weird when my two best friends Jess and Helen were soooo adamant about having brunch on this day. I had a few scheduling conflicts and almost couldn’t make brunch, but my schedule “mysteriously” opened up a few days before. Furthermore, Jess claimed to be having “marriage problems” and “really needed my support” (which of course I later found out was total bollocks and I should’ve known because they are the most adorable couple I know). So I went to brunch, totally unsuspecting of anything.

Two Bloody Marys, a slight buzz, and a full stomach later, the check came. I always have a habit of trying to pay for the check so we had our usual “battle” for the bill. They finally pretended to give up and asked, “Well, how much is it?”. I opened the check…. in it was a cream envelope, sealed with red wax.

Silly me still didn’t get it and actually thought, “Oh look, how cute! This place puts their checks in envelopes sealed in wax!” Then I turned the envelope around, and saw my name was written neatly in calligraphy. I was so confused that I just stared at the envelope for about a minute. My friends squealed, “What is that? Open it!” (they totally knew and were just playing along) and so I slowly did. It was a letter from Mr. Martini:

“Good morning my love, now that your brunch is history, it’s time to find a pair of string beans in front of a building of ancient artifacts. Let the day unfold naturally and enjoy the ride! Love, Winsor.”

By this time, I was sobbing uncontrollably and I couldn’t even speak. This was the moment when I knew that I was going to be engaged! After letting me cry and enjoy the moment for a few more minutes, they made me start cracking down on the clues. First stop - The Museum of Natural History, where we went one day on a date!

Location Two: Museum of Natural History

As I was being walked to the entrance of the museum Jess asked me, “Do you see it? You’re supposed to be looking for string beans!”. I was still in shock so I couldn’t get my brain to function so I just gave her a hopelessly blank look. Then I saw it - the two string beans! It was DB, Mr. Martini’s roomate and Andrew, his very close friend. They are both super tall and thin and stood side by side next to each other at the entrance to the museum! I started cracking up at the joke - how hilarious is that?

That’s when Jess and Helen said goodbye. I was a little sad and shocked that they were leaving me. I thought they were going to journey along with me the whole way. But we hugged and said our goodbyes, then I proceeded to follow my string beans into the museum.

DB and Andy lead me through a few clues at different locations in the museum. At each clue was the same envelope sealed with wax. Opening the envelope revealed another clue that lead me to another part of the museum. A little while later, I was following the “Simba, I am your father” clue. This one I knew right away and laughed at the inside joke. It was from an episode of Psych, a TV show that we both love. We thought this scene was sooo hilarious and for weeks we would say to each other “Simba, I am your father”. I headed for the lion display and immediately started to look for my next envelope. All of a sudden Dave, who is Mr. Martini’s best man, popped out of nowhere and handed me my next clue! I was so shocked that I immediately started bawling. This was the moment that I realized there were going to be many more surprises in store for me and no telling who I would be seeing next. Andy and DB said their goodbyes, and I followed Dave to our next location.

Location Three: The Disney Store.

According to the clue that Dave gave me, I was supposed to meet someone at Guest Services at the Disney store and speak out loud, “I am one of the Kings and Queens of Old, Queen Susie of Narnia. Please give me my brother, King Peter’s sword”. Ever since I was a child, I have been obsessed with The Chronicles of Narnia. My favorite possession is an old, tattered paperback box set of all 7 books (seriously if my house burned down it would probably be one of the first things I’d grab). I found it endearing that he included this in my adventure. I headed down to Guest Services and found Mrs. Bee waiting for me (I am friends with Mrs. Bee irl ).

More tears followed (my eyes were swollen by this time). They actually forced me to to say those words to in order to get the next clue! Mrs. Bee then handed me a plastic sword. Taped to the blade was my next clue. It required me to take a picture with the other “Kings and Queens” while holding the sword (lol!). At the time the Disney Store in NYC displayed the original costumes worn in the new Prince Caspian movie. Mrs. Bee snapped a picture of me, then gave me my next clue.

“New York is a jungle not a desert, but find your Oasis in France on Park Ave and 33rd Street.”

Location 4: Oasis Spa

Mrs. Bee and I headed over to Oasis Spa for a manicure.  After the manicure, she gave me another clue!

“Your next stop is before another word for me”

Location 5: Spa H

This clue was probably the hardest, but another word for “me” is “I” and the letter before “I” is “H”. We headed on over the Spa H. Another spa? I was confused. But Mrs. Bee dropped me off and said goodbye. I wasn’t passed onto another person this time, so I was a little confused but I was told I was going to be getting a massage and a facial. This spa is amazing by the way and I loved both my facial and my massage. The only unfortunate thing was that we were a little late, and they were forced to shorten the massage time to 40 minutes instead of the full hour. I loved my facial and I had a great conversation with the facialist explaining why I was carrying around a plastic sword. I also couldn’t help thinking, “oh nooo. my makeup is all going to wash off!”

to bee continued (7 more stops to go!)…

• DISE: Do It, Someone Else
• A Hawaiian Honeymoon