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Inspiration » Proposal Story » Joy Proposal Story: Christina & Scott

Joy Proposal Story: Christina & Scott

by Cali Pitchel

How did the two of you meet?

Despite popular folklore, Christina and Scott did not meet skydiving. Although that does make for a great story and one we love to tell… ask us any time! The beauty of online dating brought together these two gingers in search of love. Christina sent the first message asking, “So how do you think the universe would react to two gingers meeting online?” Clearly, the Universe reacted favorably.

Give us the proposal details! When? Where? How?

We love wine. Not that we are connoisseurs by any means, we just enjoy a lovely glass of crisp white or smooth red (Interestingly, Christina only drank white before meeting Scott and Scott only drank red. Now they are enthusiasts of both). So Christina did not think it was strange in the least when Scott suggested a trip to Virginia wine country in mid-November. Having just come off a leg injury that had kept him fairly homebound, Scott was eager to make up for missing their normal summer outing.

The morning of November 19th started out gorgeous. An unseasonably warm morning (70+ degrees), had Christina running outside in a tank top and shorts with her volunteer group (Teens Run DC) while Scott enjoyed a long bike ride. When the time came for them to head out to meet two of their couple friends (Josh & Nicole and Ron & Stephanie) for the hour drive to Blue Valley Vineyard, the temperature was still well above average.

We are both goofy, young-hearted people who just enjoy being being silly together. That’s joy. Just being you and having someone “get” you….

Luckily, Christina grabbed a light jacket just as they stepped out the door because no sooner had they started the drive when the weather took a turn for the worst. The wind whipped up into a frenzy with leaves slapping against the outside of the car, dark clouds started rolling in over the horizon, and the temperature plummeted to the low 40s. In the backseat, Scott sat anxiously checking his weather app while Christina obliviously told him not to worry – “We can just drink wine inside,” she laughed. Meanwhile, she started humming the theme song of the Wicked Witch of the West (from the Wizard of Oz). Not helping!

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Little did Christina know that the reason Scott was so nervous about the weather was that he had planned an entire proposal out by the vineyard’s fire pits where, the year before, they had had a memorable date drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers. Instead of setting the scene by the fire pit, Scott’s plans were thwarted when they arrive at the winery only to have the skies open and the wind continue at a feverish pace. The group rushed inside where all the other vineyard guests – who had previously been enjoying the warm day – had crowded. The new proposal scene was an overly-congested barn with live music drowning out any chance of conversation. Scott was destroyed; this was not the romantic proposal he had envisioned.

The group made the best of the situation and enjoyed some wine while the storm began to pass. Just as sunset approached, the rain finally let up. Scott, eager to take advantage of the moment, asked if the group would go outside to take a picture. At this point, Christina should have known that something was up because the group – normally disorganized at best – quickly assembled and filed outside in an orderly fashion. Christina was left with her glass halfway to her mouth before rushing out after them.

As they stepped outside, the weather again tried to take hold of the scene. Fat, wet snowflakes started falling upon the group. Christina urged Scott to rush the picture so they could head back in. After taking a group shot, Scott asked Christina if they could take one of just the two of them. Eager to get back inside to the warmth of the barn, Christina agreed half-heartedly. Thank God she did because as they started to pose for the picture, Scott dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and whispered “I love you. Will you marry me?”

Christina, taken completely off guard, burst out into laughter – her trademark reaction when she is not mentally prepared for what is happening around her. Fortunately, Scott knows this reaction all too well. He simply waited – on bended knee no less – for her to emotionally catch up to the moment. When she said “of course” (full-heartedly), he stood up, and they kissed and embraced. Their friends started cheering and someone called out “You can cheer now” to a group of onlookers who had gathered – faces pressed up against the window – watching the scene unfold. Immediately the group started shouting and clapping enthusiastically.

Scott dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring, and whispered “I love you. Will you marry me?”

Unbeknownst to Christina, all of their friends had been in on the planning and had captured the whole proposal on video. The group went back in and enjoyed a glass of the vineyard’s bubbly and lots of laughter and retelling of the day’s events from various perspectives. Later, after dinner at a place Scott had picked because it was where they had their second date (and first kiss), Scott and Christina got to share the news with their best friends and family.

It was truly an amazingly special day and one that proves we can weather any storm together.

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What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?

Choosing our venue and our date. Given our affinity for wine (did we mention that? LOL), we found a very cool spot that celebrates our love for wine and our city. District Winery is a brand new venue that is currently under construction and set to open in the Navy Yard area of DC in August 2017. We will be the venue’s very first wedding on October 27, 2017. Not only is this reason enough to celebrate, but Christina is somewhat superstitious about the number 7 (it’s her lucky number) and their date has two 7s in it!

How do you stay sane under the pressures of wedding planning?

Christina does event planning as part of her job at a communications firm. However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get stressed. In fact, it means she probably stresses more over the details than most. Fortunately for Scott, Christina is also a runner and is currently training for her second marathon. (She also has two half-marathons scheduled in the month leading up to their wedding). All that time to go over details in her head while running long runs, means she feels prepared and de-stressed. Meanwhile, Scott is also getting back into running after his leg injury and is an avid cyclist. If all else fails, he pours himself a tall cup of hot coffee.

How did you hear about Joy?

Christina discovered Joy while researching the search string “Best wedding websites.” WithJoy.com kept coming back time and again in the list of top wedding websites – both among bloggers, wedding vendor websites, etc. Christina thought, “With this many glowing reviews, it (like Scott) has got to be the one.”

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What is your favorite part of using Joy for your wedding?

It’s super simple to use and the layout is gorgeous. There are also so many customizable features and ways to make it your own while simultaneously making it appear like a professional website. Christina surprised Scott by dropping in a lot of the details and showing him an almost-finished draft of the website, and he was blown away with how amazing it looked.

What piece of advice would you give couples to ensure that they use Joy to its fullest potential?

Take your time with it. Designing your wedding website should be a fun and engaging experience. If one of you enjoys things like this more, have that person be the point person while the other weighs in. For example, I “interviewed” Scott for the tidbits section and was able to write down his candid responses to my questions. He then just went in and edited the pieces he wanted to add more details to. We also both wrote our own version of the our story section and are planning to merge these together. These exercises made designing the site more of a couples activity versus an individual chore. Also, get creative. Change the titles. Instead of Love Story we made the title of our story section “#TheUniverseReaction” playing up our meetcute.

At Joy we believe that even though a wedding lasts a day, joy lasts forever. What does that mean to you?

Christina says: Scott and I are just so lucky to have found each other. We are both goofy, young-hearted people who just enjoy being being silly together. That’s joy. Just being you and having someone “get” you even if you laugh hysterically at their proposal or think it’s fun to try on costumes in the middle of the aisle at Target or race around Ikea on a shopping cart. Every day for forever will be a reminder of how blessed we are that we found that person to be joyful with.

Scott says: [Quoting “our” song – Michael Franti “Life is Better With You”] That every day is not always Valentine’s Day, but you make it feel like it most of the time. Every single day with Christina is an incredible adventure, from one day to the next it just gets better and better. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter will bring us.

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