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Amy Russell and Aaron Moeller
Planning an August 2012 wedding
“Just before leaving for the beach with my family last summer, my fiancé bought a boat that had been kept at Bert Jabin’s Yacht Yard inAnnapolis. Needing to move it to Severna Park before we left, Aaron called me that Wednesday and asked me to meet him at the yard after work to take the boat out, watch Wednesday night races, grab dinner, and drive it up toSeverna Park. For dinner that night, we jetted over toDavis’ Pub. While waiting for a table we talked about how we’d gone toDavis’ the first night we met and how it had since become our go-to. I said, “You know, this would be the perfect kind of night to propose,” with a wink and a smile. He made a face that said, “How do you know I’m not going to?” How he kept it together, I have no idea. On the ride home, Aaron turned off the boat and went to the front. He is always checking the gas and other things—so I didn’t think anything of it. Then, he reappeared on one knee, with a ring box. I was so excited I still don’t know what he said. Aaron pulled out one last surprise: two glasses and a bottle ofChampagne. We spent the rest of the ride drinkingChampagneand calling our family and friends.”
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—Amy, Annapolis resident, Associate Editor for What’s Up? Media
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Shaun Dubick and Jeneve Silverberg
Planning a Labor Day 2012 wedding
“Right before starting a new job, I had some time off between my old job and starting the new one, so we went to Belize. The first day there, we went to the Mayan ruins in Tikal, Guatemala.The final stop on the tour was climbing the tallest of the temples in the area, where you could look over the jungle. A guy on our tour asked if we wanted him to take our picture, so as I handed him the camera, I whispered “I’m going to propose...take as many pictures as possible.” She was very surprised!
”I used her grandmother’s ring for the proposal. Her grandmother, who just passed away, talked all the time about how she wanted us to get married, and left the ring for Jeneve, so it felt appropriate to use her ring. It was pretty scary carrying this ring through airport security, customs, the border betweenBelize andGuatemala, and all day on this tour though. We are happy it is now back in theU.S. and safe.”
—Shaun, Kent Island native, Washington, D.C., resident
Wilson and Larisa Santis (nee Howard)
Married on October 29, 2011, at Herrington on the Bay, Rose Haven
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“My fiancé,Wilson, woke up before sunrise on a Saturday morning and slipped out of bed without me knowing. My cell phone ringing woke me up, and not really having my senses about me having just been woken up, I got out of bed to get the phone and see that it’sWilsoncalling me. I answer, but he’s already hung up (I find out later he didn’t want to talk to me, just used the phone to get me up out of bed).
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“I open the French doors of our bedroom that leads into the living room to findWilsonand see why he’s calling me, and see a path of rose petals lining the way out to our sliding glass doors. I go out onto our deck and look down below at the pier—we live on the South River and our house sits up on a hill— and I see Wilson standing at the end of the pier with a fire lit in our fire pit, and rose petals all around him. I ride our tram down to the pier, feeling excited and nervous.Wilsonsaid some really lovely things to me and asked me to marry him. The sun came up a few minutes later and we enjoyed those moments in the chilly November morning standing on the pier watching the sunrise together.”
r—Larisa, Riva resident
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Amanda Newquist and Ron Janeski
Planning a June 9, 2012 wedding
“It all started as a beautiful sunny Saturday at our marina. Coffee and doughnuts, relaxing in lounge chairs on the docks, and a dinghy ride. Little did I know this would be a ride that would change my life! We tied up by the pool and were visiting with friends when the airplane appeared. Ron looked up, so naturally I looked up, too. I read the banner attached to the plane, ‘Amanda, Will You Marry Me?’ I turned to look at Ron and he was on bended knee holding the ring of my dreams, a princess-cut Tacori. Ron had the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face. When I finally looked around, all of our friends were there to celebrate this magical moment with a Champagne toast.”
r—Amanda, Baltimore resident
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Jessica Opedal and Erik Levin
Planning a spring 2013 wedding
“My fiancé and I are huge fans of Disney World. We could probably vacation there every year and not get tired of it. On our vacation there, I pretty much started to suspect that something weird was going on from the get go. When we got to the airport my (then) boyfriend wouldn't let me see or hold the plane tickets. Once we got to the gate he finally gave me the tickets, and—surprise!—he had upgraded us to first class.
rAt Disney World, he suggested we go outside on the little promenade where the boats dock to go to MGM and Epcot. The scene was really beautiful because the sun had just come up everything has a pinkish-orange glow to it. I’m just standing there huddled against him trying to keep warm and, bam! He drops to one knee and asks me to marry him! We spent the rest of the trip splurging and celebrating our engagement!”
r—Jessica, Davidsonville resident
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To share your proposal story with us, visit our Facebook page or email kcasselbury@whatsupmag.com. We love hearing about the moments when your wedding-planning journey officially began!
r*Memories and stories have been edited for clarity, grammar, and space.
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