View Best Engagement/Proposal Story Contest Joanna & Ryan's Epic Proposal
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My fiance, Ryan, is a man of surprises. When I think he's outdone himself, he goes up and beyond what anyone thinks possible. Let the story unfold....
I am a singer/songwriter in Toronto and got a call from an amazing soul/r&b band that I used to sing with asking me if I was available to do a gig with them on Dec 11, 2013 at the Drake Hotel because there was a wedding client that wanted to book the band for their big day in the summer. The band already has 2 singers but wanted a third singer to fill out the sound, plus saw me sing with them in the past and really liked how 3 singers looked and sounded with the band on stage. Ok, fair enough, not an odd request at all. Since I do a lot of wedding jobs, I thought, "cool! I get to be on stage with my friends again and make awesome music!". So naturally, I said yes. Eventually, lots of friends started sending me messages asking me when my next show was and I told them about the show at the Drake and another HUGE charity Christmas show I was singing at on Dec 12 with the St Royals. A lot of friends said that they would love to hear me sing with The Digs again (band i used to sing with) and really wanted to check out the Wed night show. Cool. Great! Then something really awful and freak-accident-like happened the week of these big shows: I COMPLETELY lost my voice. It was like I was poor Ariel and evil Ursula stole my voice away! This happened the Sunday night, so I had Monday and Tuesday to get my act together before the two big shows on Wed and Thurs. I was panicking and felt utterly helpless and very very depressed. On Tuesday night, I accepted my defeat and messaged the band leader of The Digs to say that I was unable to sing with them and that I was so very sorry. He convinced me that I should still come because the client was being very "weird" and that he was afraid we would lose the wedding gig altogether if they didn't see all 3 singers or at least get to meet the whole band. Ok, a little weird I thought, but I really didn't want them to lose the gig so I agreed to still go to the Drake, and at least meet the clients. So Wednesday rolls around and my fiance picks me up with my best friend who really wanted to go out that night for some weird reason, and off we go to The Drake. I was so miserable at the beginning of that night because I still had no voice! And so many people I knew started to showing up to the Drake and I felt like I had to try and use my voice to talk and at least be a courteous human being! When I asked the band leader where the 'client' was, he told me that they were running late and will be there soon. So, the band went on without me because of my voice issues and I had a little time to chill out a bit, but SO many people I knew kept walking in to the Drake. Some people that I hadn't seen in a WHILE and some of them were my fiance Ryan's friends. So when I asked them what they were doing there, they all gave me the same response: "To hear you sing!! Wait, what do you mean you're not singing?" They all expressed their concern for my voice and wished me well but I felt really bad that all these people came out and I wasn't even singing that night. Oh well, it still felt nice to have a lot of familiar faces in the audience. Too familiar...hmm.. The Digs finished up their first set and one of the singers announced that there was a special 'duo' staying on stage to do one more song. The keyboard player and other vocalist stayed on. I thought "cool! i love those guys! I wonder what song they're going to do??". That's when they launched into "All of Me" by John Legend. This song made me cry the very first time I heard it in the car with my fiance Ryan. It was "our song" as cheesy as that sounds. That's when it dawned on me all of a sudden...wham! Cameras were out, spotlight was on me, my videographer friend Aia was filming the whole thing! Everyone was! I turned to Ryan and whispered, "what's going on???!" And he replied, "So you know that client you were supposed to meet tonight?... Well, that client is me." I started to cry because then and only then it sank in and everything that went wrong that week, all of a sudden, didn't matter anymore. This moment was everything. Ryan then proceeded to the stage and gave the most beautiful speech (in front of a sea our friends...and random strangers!) and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He planned the whole thing with the help of my amazing and awesome friends. Everyone was in on it. Except me, of course. You can watch it all here: http://vimeo.com/81880371. Enjoy! Joanna & Ryan |
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