I first met Meredith at a karaoke party in the basement of Remote Lounge in March of 2004. I was there was some friends singing karaoke, and she was there celebrating her 24th birthday. We were introduced by our mutual friend, Catrinel. (Here's the very first picture I ever took of Meredith from that night!). I thought Meredith was really cute, but Catrinel told me she had a boyfriend.
Three months later, I ran into Meredith again at Sarah Lewitinn's Memorial Day BBQ at 3A. We started chatting and when she told me that she'd recently broken up with the guy she'd been dating, I slyly suggested that if she "ever wanted to go out sometime, solely for the purpose of making her ex-boyfriend know that she had already moved on" that I was totally available to help. Meredith took me up on it and the rest is history.
Sarah's Memorial Day BBQ in 2008 was the four year anniversary of us getting together, and I figured that it would be the perfect place for me to surprise Meredith and propose! I invited a bunch of our mutual friends to the party to witness the surprise!
On Monday, we took it easy around the house. Meredith was busy doing some arts and crafts while I did my best to pretend that I didn't have a ring in my pocket and that I wasn't nervous about proposing at a party in front of all of our friends in just a few hours. tags:meredithcraftspaint
We started walking over to Sarah's house at 5:30. I secretly texted the party and told them that we were on the way and that anyone who was there from out of town should go up on to the roof and hide for a while so that Meredith wouldn't get tipped off to the fact that something was up! tags:catrinelellen hartjbjeetquinnsarahshrutiapt 3a
Hahaha. Here's me arriving at the party and making a "Meredith has no idea that I'm about to propose" face while Cat gives me a purple nurple. tags:catrinelellen hartmeapt 3atit squeeze
Sarah had put together a huge feast.... tags:bbqfood
...and was also GRILLING INDOORS wtih some big, crazy George Foreman grill that you plug into the wall. tags:sarahapt 3abbqgrill
Indoor grilling in June in a NYC-sized apartment = 1,000 degrees Farenheit. Meredith was like "It's so hot in here, let's go up on to the roof" and everyone had to keep making up excuses about why we were staying in the roasting-hot apartment. tags:amandascott wardsiegeapt 3asweaty
Every time someone would catch my eye and they were sure Meredith wasn't looking, I'd get cheered on. Hahaha. tags:karenposh tonysarah hsweaty
After successfully getting settled in to the party without Meredith suspecting anything, Catrinel initiated the next stage of the plan and got Meredith to sit down on the very same couch that she'd been sitting on four years ago when we decided to go on our first date! (Cat was like "It's really hot - come sit here on the couch with me and I can fan us!" Smooooooth.) tags:catrinelmeredithapt 3acouchfansweaty
With Meredith in place on the couch and still not suspecting anything, it was time for THE PROPOSAL. Here's me doing my best to pretend I'm not nervous while a couple people sneaked out of the party and rounded up all the guest hiding up on the roof. tags:menervousproposal
While Meredith sat on the couch, all of the roof guests quietly sneaked into the apartment but stayed by the door out of Meredith's sight. With everyone in place, I took a deep breath and tried to pretend that I was just casually joining her on the couch. As soon as I sat down next to her, the noisy party instantly went completely silent and Meredith noticed that everyone at the entire party was looking at the two of us and aiming cameras at us. Before she could ask what was happening, I asked "Remember four years ago when you asked me out on this couch?"
tags:memeredithpiperapt 3acouchproposalus
Before she could answer, I got down on knee and popped the big one! She was so surprised that at first she didn't say anything. She just kept looking around totally surprised trying to process what was happening. tags:memeredithapt 3abestcouchproposalsurpriseus
As the surprise wore off, she just started laughing and laughing. Her first words back to me after my proposal were inspired by Bret Michaels and VH1's awesomely terrible Rock of Love. She asked, "Will you stay in this house and continue to rock my world?" Hahaha. tags:memeredithapt 3acouchlaughproposalus
Here's the whole thing captured on video courtesy of Siege. (My favorite part is after all 15 seconds of kissing and the room yelling of the word "woo," it gets quiet for a second and Sarah goes "WAIT, DID SHE SAY YES?") tags:memeredithapt 3aproposalvideo
...Meredith's over-sized engagement ring. I had to custom order it in her size (because she has teeny tiny fingers) but the custom ring didn't arrive in time so I had to propose with a ring that only fit on Meredith's thumb! Hahaha. tags:karenmeredithposh tonyproposalringthumbs up
Gurj was rocking a novelty candy bra. You know, just the usual. tags:jeetbrafan
Meredith out of nowhere: CANDY BRA NOM NOM NOM! Hahaha. I love Gurj's expression in this photo so much. It's totally due to the fact that Meredith is FULL ON cupping her entire right boob and it makes me LOL every time I look at it. tags:jeetmeredithbestbitetit squeezeuncomfortable
Byron, Murdo & Sandy went to college with Meredith and came to the party to surprise her! tags:byronmurdosandy
Here's a picture of Gurj eating indoor-grilled chicken in sunglasses and a candy-bra. NBD. tags:jeetbestbitesunglasseswtf
No longer having a reason to stay in the sweltering apartment, we decided to take the party up to the roof. Posh Tony, Josh and Lisa! tags:josh mlisa grahamposh tony
...decided to walk to our apartment to play some Rock Band! I love how as soon as Sarah realized I was taking pics of her and Catrinel walking she... tags:catrinelsarah hstreetwalking
Then a couple songs later, Meredith, KT and Siege joined the party and we all nerded out together. Just cuz you're getting married doesn't mean you gotta grow up or anything! Thanks to everyone for keeping the surprise a secret and for coming out to help me surprise Meredith! It meant so much to have so many people we love be there to share that huge moment in our lives! tags:amandacatrinelkatiemeredithsarah hscott wardsiegerockbandstuytown aptvideogames
