Weddingbee Blog

If you live in Chicago, you know all about the amazing summers we have here. There are beaches to sit on, shows to attend, and street fairs to go to every single weekend. It’s pretty much awesome. But my favorite part of Chicago summertime is, hands down, the unbelievable music festivals that find a home here.

It just so happens that my VERY favorite, Pitchfork Music Festival, falls on my birthday weekend every year. I mean really, Pitchfork, you shouldn’t have. So last year, like every year, Sparks and I made our way over to Union Park to get down to our favorite tunes. Last year was especially great because one of my favorite college buddies was in town, and Sparks’s friend had (generously) gifted us with VIP passes! We spent the next three days jamming to Robyn, Tallest Man on Earth, and Major Lazer. Oh, and enjoying all the free beer. Score!

Left: My face for the whole weekend; Right: Killer view for Pavement

After such an amazing weekend, I figured we were done celebrating. But Sparks still wanted to take me to dinner, just the two of us. “Pick whatever place you want,” he said. “My treat.” Okaaaay. Telling this Chicago girl she can pick any restaurant she wants is like giving a credit card to a 15-year-old and dropping them off at the Mall of America: complete mental overload. But I had been dying to try an intimate neighborhood spot called Boka, so I made reservations there for Wednesday night. And this is where Sparks got me. By having me do all the planning, by choosing a weeknight AFTER my big birthday bash, I was totally clueless.

Me, totally clueless. Sparks, totally nervous.

It was even MY suggestion that we swing by the lake after dinner to watch the Navy Pier fireworks. I packed a bottle of wine, a blanket, and two glasses to take with us so we could have a little post-dinner picnic. But as our meal was winding down, we realized we would be too late to catch the fireworks. I didn’t care, but Sparks really wanted to try and make it. I still didn’t catch on. I just figured he was tired of hearing me bitch about how we had never seen the fireworks from the lakefront. So I played along as we sped over to the North Avenue Beach parking lot.

Once we got there, we saw the cops were shutting down the lot for the evening. I told Sparks to forget it, let’s just go home and watch Family Guy and go to bed. But he literally jumped out of the car and went over to the cop’s window, begging her to let us park for 15 minutes. I thought that was weird, but I still thought Sparks was just being Sparks. He’s always a little wacky.

So we walked over to the lakefront and made our little picnic. We missed the fireworks, but it was still a beautiful night.

Crappy iPhone pic

We sat down, and I asked Sparks to grab the wine. He reached into the bag, but instead of the Whole Foods wine I had packed, he pulled out a fancy bottle of champagne. Whaaa? As soon as I figured out what was going on, Sparks was on his knee looking very nervous. All I remember is him saying, “I’ve wanted to ask you this for so long…” Then I immediately started bawling. I kept asking, “Are you serious?!” over and over again.

I finally managed to say “yes,” and I couldn’t be happier with how it happened. After seven years together, Sparks pulled off the perfect surprise.

The craziest part of the story is that, minutes after Sparks proposed, a student photographer walked by. She asked if we had just gotten engaged, and we excitedly told her we had. Then she whipped out her fancy camera and asked if she could take a few pictures of us for her nighttime photography project. She had been wandering the lakefront all evening snapping pics of the full moon and gorgeous skyline, and thought she would certainly get an “A+” if she could include us in her story. Unreal, right??? Here’s one of the pics that she emailed me later that week:

Beautiful

And that’s how the Sparklers got engaged! Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy-long post. I just couldn’t leave anything out!

Any other long-term couples out there? Were you surprised with a proposal? Or did you know it was coming?

(all personal photos)