Wedding Blog
It was now April and we’d been together 5 months. Mr. Bee’s parents were coming to visit for a week from the Philippines. I had already booked a flight to New York before they decided to come and was scheduled to arrive the day after they left, but I changed my flight so that I could meet them. Dinner went off without a hitch. Mr. Bee’s parents were nice, friendly, and they didn’t have any objections to us getting married. Phew.
I came back to New York the following month, and I knew that Mr. Bee was going to propose on this trip. We’d been together 6 months by this time, and I couldn’t wait because 6 months may sound like a short period of time, but it felt like an eternity because we’d been talking about getting married for over 5 months at this point. My parents would never have let me move cross country to New York unless we were engaged, and we desperately wanted to be together.
On May 7th, we returned to that same wine bar where we first met. Our waiter was acting suspiciously nice and nervous when we arrived. To tell you the truth, he gave it away and I immediately knew, but I played along. After our dinner, the jazzy music playing overhead was suddenly eclipsed by Top of the World by the Carpenters.
When I returned home after I first met Mr. Bee, my dad caught me walking around the house singing Top of the World. He said to me, “Why are you so happy? You must be in love!” I wasn’t even aware that I was singing! Hehe and he was right of course. When I told Mr. Bee about this, he immediately downloaded the song and listened to it over and over. So cheesy as the song is, it kinda became our song.
I digress. As soon as I heard the song, I knew that he was going to propose at that very moment. Mr. Bee said all these wonderful things to me, but I was soooooooooo excited, I’m not sure I remember it all because he opened the ring box while he was talking! He proposed and of course I said yes, yes, yes! I didn’t believe this before I met Mr. Bee, but when you meet the person you want to marry - you just know. It doesn’t take you years and years to decide if he or she is the one. We both knew that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together after that first week.
The waitress that kept refilling our wine the first night we were at that wine bar remembered us too! Everyone is so nice to you when you get engaged I wish we could do it all the time. 
When I returned home to Los Angeles, I told my parents that Mr. Bee and I had gotten engaged. They were shocked and mad. How could we get engaged without telling them?! In Korean culture you don’t just get engaged by yourselves… it’s something that’s decided and agreed upon with the entire family. I explained to them that that’s not how it works in America. But they were definitely unhappy….
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Share this post: The Story of Mr. and Mrs. Bee - Part 4
Mr. Bee is so thoughtful, to remember the song and have it played. It sounds like your engagement was so romantic, except the whole mad parents 
I am anxious to hear the rest!
For some reason the fact that your parents were irritated with the whole situation makes it more romantic to me! I love that you just knew he was the one. (I completely understand that!!) How sweet to play your song!! And the waitress remembered you after 6 months (and in NYC???) ?? That first date must’ve been like fireworks!!
Oh, this happened to me too — except it was my Korean fiance’s family who was upset (because it was not a mutually agreed upon decision) and we were a bit clueless as to what the expectations were, so we were really caught off guard by their reaction… I can’t wait to hear how you and Mr. Bee handled it!
I’m assuming it all worked out with your parents…but how unfun to have to deal with angry family in the midst of such happiness!
Mrs. Bee, I TOTALLY know what you mean about knowing you’re going to marry someone right away! It wasn’t an “at first sight” thing with me and my fiance, but I did know within a month that we were going to get married. My mom later told me she could tell, too!
What a sweet proposal!!! I love hearing about this. I hope your parents weren’t mad for too long!
I understand about your parents reaction! My parents also felt that we weren’t truly engaged until they invited FI’s parents over and did a little ceremony/prayer. Only then were we “officially” engaged. Luckily, in my case, they weren’t mad because I had told them in advance that I was happy to do the engagement ceremony as long as we could have our more “American” proposal as well!
Can’t wait to hear about the rest!!!
hehe, i just had to go to youtube and look up that song, how cute! i can imagine it would be weird if I was a random person at the winebar when this was happening and this song started playing overhead…
And my parents had the same reaction to our engagement as yours… it was tough for the first few months!! They thought it was too soon, even after 2 years. I don’t think they would have accepted it after 6 months of dating!!
I am youtube-ing that song as well. Can’t wait to hear how everything worked out with your parents!…
How romantic!!! But it’s definitely tough when you come from another cultural background. My dad used to be like that–until I met my FI. 
Oh, hurray for On Top of the World! I find myself singing that too, when I’m all content and happy with the world (and feeling more in love than usual with Mr. Spin ^_^).
Sweet proposal, can’t wait for part 5!
I love that you went back to the place of your first date and he played “On Top of the World!” Can’t wait for the next part, it’s like each day I anticipate more of the story!
Top of the World is a sweet song! Cheesy, sure, but sweet.
Your whirlwind love story is so sweet. I’m loving these installments!
I actually tuned in and read this Mr and Mrs Bee love story sequel! So sweet - Mrs. Bee you are such a great story teller you should start writing a book or something
“It doesn’t take you years and years to decide if he or she is the one. We both knew that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together after that first week”.
I’ve got tears in my eyes reading this. My husband and I married 8 months after our first date, and we’ll be celebrating our 27th this Nov. I often wondered why it takes some people so long, and always believed what you just wrote. I’m still in love and still respect him with all my heart. I still like him and we laugh at everything.
Our parents were the same way! They were fine with us having our “American” proposal, but it wasn’t legit until both families sat together and talked about it and we had the little ceremony. It’s interesting how many other bees were in the same boat!
Ahhhh! The suspense is killing me.
Mr. Bee gets major points for his thoughtful proposal.
Ditto Mrs. Cookie, Mr Bee gets major points, that was really sweet
I’m sorry you’re parents were angry - my parents were a downer when FH and I got engaged too. We came home to tell them and they didn’t even bother coming downstairs, they both just hung out up stairs and talked to us from the top of the stairs. So, hung out downstairs for awhile until I went upstairs and yelled at my mom for being rude.
“It doesn’t take you years and years to decide if he or she is the one. We both knew that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together after that first week”.
I love your story and it’s super sweet, but I couldn’t disagree with the above statement more. Everyone is different. It took me 2 years to figure out my husband was the person I wanted to marry and we had been together for more than 5 years when we got married which was perfect for us. It was such a relief to find someone who doesn’t make hasty decisions and who I felt I could be honest with about doubts before we took our relationship to the next level. I didn’t even know I ever wanted to GET married when I started dating my now husband, so the transition to thinking about marriage being a possibility and then marriage being a possibility with him took time. Sorry if I sound miffed but I just feel like when people say stuff like “when you know you know” they are dismissing the legitamacy of my marriage.
@Mrs. Smith: of course every person is different, and I didn’t mean to speak for marriage in general. I guess I was a former cynic turned romantic because I thought it was crazy when a friend of mine got engaged to someone she had been dating for three months.
my guy and I started talking about marriage within the first months of our relationship, too. We also just knew. Now, two years later, you can imagine my frustration at not being able to set a budget or date anytime soon.
I would never have believed it if it hadn’t happened to me, but I was also a case of “when you know, you know.” I knew within the first two weeks that my fiance was the man I would marry, and we talked about getting married before we’d even been dating for a whole month. He proposed just before our six-month dating anniversary, which seemed like an eternity to me too! I can’t wait to spend forever with him
When I excitedly called my mom to tell her I was engaged (to my BF of 6 years who I was living with), she said “how can you be engaged? We weren’t involved at all!”. I was so upset because I had never been made aware of anything traditional that they expected so we had a more “American” engagement as well. Everything was fine afterwards but I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get an excited response.
wow i love this story… it’s like a great novel that i just want to read through in a day! i really don’t want to wait until next time!!
i agree, you do know when you’ve met “the one”. i met my fiancee and we were friends… soon best friends.. and hung out all the time with my son. i was a single mom, and he was really there for me through thick and thin. and he was SO good to my boy! i started to really look forward to hanging out with him, and then a friend caught me and asked me if he might be the one… and i thought it was “gross” because we were such good friends. well what do you know, i thought more about it and it just felt right. a few weeks later we had our first kiss, and a few months later we got engaged! corny and quick story… so much more details… but that sums it up! you definitely know when something is right!
Awww. You’re killing me with the suspense!
The parental approval thing is so totally cultural! Or even family specific. I’ve found that in families that are really close knit (or cultures where families are more dependent on each other and intertwined), they really expect that the guy will ask the parents for approval before proposing and they don’t take it lightly when it doesn’t go that way.
I’m obviously glad it worked out for you guys!
I absolutely love your story Mrs.Bee. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it!
Aww I am loving your story!!! It is so interesting to learn how different cultures view getting engaged and dating too. Can’t wait to hear more
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Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
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