Joy Proposal Story: Eugen & Gerald

How did the two of you meet?

Honestly, neither of us remember!

It may have been in seventh grade, when Eugen had to get a quote from the basketball team for Journalism. She went out to the basketball courts with a friend, and tried to get a quote from one of them, including Gerald, but the guys were too busy shooting hoops. Gerald denies this ever happened.

But in high school, we took several classes together. Gerald, sitting behind Eugen, would somehow manage to fill Eugen’s sweater hoodie with spitballs by the end of each class, which she was not amused by. She went to a lot of his basketball games for Yearbook, he often was there to crack a joke and make Eugen laugh. Neither of us realized how close we had gotten by junior year.

 

Gerald asked Eugen to be his date to junior prom in April 2002, and we have been together through college, multiple jobs, and graduate school ever since.

How long have you been together?

Fifteen years nonstop in April 2017!

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

Eugen’s still in shock of how Gerald was able to pull it off, and how she didn’t catch any of the signs. We were visiting friends in NorCal for the long weekend, and were heading out to Cupertino to meet up with some friends. Gerald had told Eugen that Jon, one of his close friends who also happens to be a coach, was scouting some players at the high school gym at Monta Vista, our alma mater.

It made sense. Being high school sweethearts, Eugen had watched Gerald shoot hoops throughout those four years in our gym, and it had also been several years since either had been on the campus. Driving over, Eugen’s mom kept texting her questions, like “Do you have any news?” and “What life plans do you have?” The questions weren’t unusual, but the frequency was a little above the normal.

…but those bells and whistles, the wedding date, all those little details in the end, aren’t what matter going forward if you don’t have that same love and joy in your relationship as when you were first got engaged.

The parking lot was pretty empty for a Saturday event. Monta Vista had built a new gym behind the old gym, so Eugen naturally thought we had to go through the old gym to get to the new gym. The gym had its sole spotlight on right over the center court logo, and it was eerily quiet. As Eugen was walking over the center court, she noticed that Gerald had stopped walking. Turning around, she saw that he had this serious look on his face. He took her hands into his, and started with, “Eugen, I know we’ve been together a very, very long time…”

Initially, Eugen freaked out. She had this look of horror on her face. She thought Gerald was being poetic and breaking up with her on the very courts that everything had started. She asked, “What are you doing? What are you doing?!” Then to her surprise, he knelt down and asked the long-awaited question, “Will you marry me?”

In short, the proposal went from nostalgia to horror to shock to joy.

What has been your favorite experience planning the wedding?

Rediscovering how amazingly supportive and excited our family and friends are throughout this process! You think you know someone, and they somehow find a way to surprise you!

 

 

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

A lot of date nights where we can focus on each other by doing the same things that brought us together in the first place.

How did you hear about Joy?

Eugen’s a huge fan of new apps, software, and websites, and it popped up!

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

Being able to keep everything wedding-related in one spot! We like to compartmentalize our life, and if it wasn’t for Joy, there would be bits and pieces of our wedding plans all over the place.

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

Take advantage of the feedback button! I personally love Joy’s customer service and appreciate how approachable giving feedback and getting help has been.

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

After having our wedding delayed twice, it’s just been obstacle after another that we’ve had to adapt to or reconcile with. It sometimes felt like this wedding was never going to happen.

We believe that weddings, despite lasting only a day, are important, but those bells and whistles, the wedding date, all those little details in the end, aren’t what matter going forward if you don’t have that same love and joy in your relationship as when you first got engaged. We just want to spend our lives together!