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Newlyweds for 867 days!
HOW WE MET
Autumn and I met on April 16th, 2003. You can call it serendipity, I call it divine providence but through a miscommunication with my roomate, I was left in San Diego without a ride to Arizona for Easter Break. Through a mutual friend, (Garrett Radke) I got a ride to Paradise Valley,AZ with Autumn. After a twelve hour round trip, I knew Autumn was something special and she didn't think I was so bad myself. It turns out, "Paradise" was right there with me all along.
WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED
April 16, 2005
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Engagement Story
I hope you have some time for this. I apologize for its epic length but this IS the abridged version.
As you know, the day we first met was April 16, 2003. I decided to make the date of our engagement significant by asking Autumn exactly two years from that day when we took our maiden voyage to Paradise.
I started the day off right by taking Autumn to Mission Beach to soak in some rays. While we were relaxing, I planned for my friend Tres to “randomly” walk by and say hello. We had planned an entire dialogue and rehearsed it several times with my roommate (Garret Radke) acting as my fiancé-to-be. While he wasn’t near as good looking, he did make sure our dialogue was believable. The purpose of our dialogue was to have Tres invite us to go sailing with him on his boat. (Having a spur of the moment event made the engagement less predictable). So Tres gave us directions to his boat (even though I had already been there) and we packed up our beach gear immediately. Tres captained the boat towards Crown Point (where I first asked Autumn out). I lured her out to the front of the boat and “spontaneously” decided that this would be a perfect shot for a picture. I told her to stay put while I went downstairs to get the camera and the ring, which I hooked to a buoyant keychain (just in case). At the front of the boat, I got down on one knee to get the correct camera angle and took a couple pictures of Autumn. Then I set the camera down and said, “Hey, while I’m down here, there is something I have been meaning to ask you for a while… (I held up the ring and said) will you marry me?” At first Autumn thought I was joking, but once she saw the ring, her jaw dropped and she very quickly screamed, “YES!” -as if it were a race or something. After that, she melted to the deck into my arms and I placed the ring on her finger. THEN the fun really began! As we sailed around the bay I had a series of surprises for her. The first gift was a white rose that was symbolic of the purity we had maintained and will continue to maintain. The second gift I gave her was a travel Bible with the name “Autumn Elise BONNER” engraved on the cover. It was bookmarked at Proverbs 18:22, which says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord”. Around that time we were both getting a little hungry so I called up “PF Changs” (which was actually my roommate) and ordered up Autumn’s favorite dinner. A couple minutes later, he and the McCoys dropped it over the Mission Bay bridge from a rope as we went under it. Miraculously, it was a seamless handoff. While we were eating dinner, Captain Tres took us out to the ocean to watch the sunset. On our way back, we opened up our fortune cookies, which coincidently read, “The decisions of today will Ring for eternity…Congratulations Autumn!” As we sailed back toward the dock it was getting dark just in time to see the flaming heart I had Garret and the McCoys make out of Tiki Torches. At the opportune moment fireworks erupted from behind the heart and lit up the sky. I grabbed the sparkling cider out from underneath the boat and toasted Autumn to our new life together. After we parked the boat I had one last surprise for her. I took her back to the exact spot on Crown Point where I first asked her out and played a song for her that I had written on the guitar. The Next Monday in chapel I had the sound guys put up the pictures of Autumn on the sailboat and the chaplain made an announcement about our engagement. It was an event to remember.
WHEN & WHERE
December 31, 2005
Scottsdale, AZ
ABOUT THE BIG DAY
Come celebrate with us! Click on the "Details for our Guests" link for all the information you need! If you have more questions feel free to email me at aduckwor@ptloma.edu
AUTUMN ELISE'S ATTENDANTS
Rebecca Ranee
Duckworth
,
Maid Of Honor
-- sister
Cari Beth
French
,
Bridesmaid
-- cousin
Jillian
Riemersma
,
Bridesmaid
-- friend
Kelly
Bonner
,
Bridesmaid
-- soon to be sister-in-law
Debora
Held
,
Bridesmaid
-- friend
Jessica
Lieber
,
Bridesmaid
-- friend and roomate
Anne
Crossman
,
Bridesmaid
-- soon to be sister-in-law
NICHOLAS ROBERT'S ATTENDANTS
Clark David
Bonner
,
Best Man
-- brother
Josh
Crossman
,
Groomsman
-- brother-in-law
Corey
McCoy
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
Geoff
Davis
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
Garrett
Radke
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
Brian
Bigelow
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
Brett
Whiteman
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
Andy
McCoy
,
Groomsman
-- buddy
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