Interview Question Leads To Popping The Question | By: Erich Schaffhauser

Liliana and Daniel ~ 10/8/2011

From calls in the middle of the night to constant deadlines to people yelling at you on the street for covering something they don’t want on the news, reporting has its downside. But it has its perks too. This week my reporting job threw me into a scenario so awesome, it trumped the downsides I’ve experienced a thousand times over.

I woke up to a bitter 29 degrees below zero Wednesday morning. My obvious story for the day was the cold weather. One of the people I interviewed for my story was Lily, a woman from Colombia visiting her boyfriend Dan in Aberdeen. Being from South America, this was by far the coldest weather she’d experienced, and she told me she hated it. During the interview I asked what she’d say if her boyfriend asked her to marry him but said they’d be living in Aberdeen. Check out what she had to say.

Dan and I go to the same church so we know each other. After the interview, I got a text from him saying he’d bought a ring the week before and was trying to think of a cool way to propose. He said he wished he had the ring with him when I asked Lily if she’d agree to marry him if it meant living in the cold. If he had the ring, he would have jumped in and asked her.

I said I’d shoot the interview again but Dan didn’t have enough time to run home and get the ring before he had to be at work. We were trying to figure something out and finally came up with a plan.

Dan didn’t get off work until 11:00 p.m. so we couldn’t re-shoot the interview until then. But Lily’s story was scheduled to run on the 6:00 p.m. news. So I told Lily I might have to shoot her interview again because there were video and audio problems. Dan’s sister spent the day with Lily to make sure she didn’t watch the news at 6:00 p.m.

Dan’s step-mom picked up the ring and dropped it off with me. I set up for the “interview” in downtown Aberdeen across the street from Lily’s Floral at 11:00 when Dan was off work. Dan brought Lily there to redo the interview. We planned before hand that as I was setting up I’d ask Dan to grab my microphone from the camera bag in the back of my car which also had the ring in it.

As Dan brought the microphone to me with the ring now in his pocket, I apologized to Lily for messing up the interview the first time and warned her I’d basically have to ask the exact same questions over again. And you can watch what happened from there.

Congratulations to Dan and Lily. I am so happy for them and will be forever honored I got to play a part in Dan’s great proposal idea.

I’ve seen numerous Disney and movie inspired weddings, but this Super Mario themed wedding is definitely a first for me. I grew up playing Mario Brothers on my old school Nintendo, so when I saw this Super Mario wedding, it truly brought a smile to my face and made me reminisce of all the good times I had playing the game as a child.

With Mario and Princess Peach as the star of the shoot, here are a few of my favorite snapshots:

Images courtesy of: Green Wedding Shoes

Concept & Set Design: Primary Petals

A perfect little afternoon stroll for an engagement . . .

Cydney & Kiel ~ 10/22/2011

On May 26, 2011, Kiel picked Cydney up from her office for lunch. Kiel asked Cydney where she would like to go for lunch . . . and seeing that she works downtown, there were many options to choose from. Thinking it was best to save money and stay close to work to enjoy more time with Kiel, she choose a small Chinese restaurant up the street from her office. After eating (and with 25 more minutes to spare on Cydney’s lunch break) Kiel insisted that instead of hanging out in the restaurant they head back to her office. As they were walking back, they came to a beautiful little courtyard . . . picture brick walk-ways, blooming trees and flowers all around . . . as they walked through, Kiel pulled Cydney back and asked her to dance with him. She immediately told him no and that he was being weird, but he insisted. So as he attempted to dance with her in the middle of this courtyard, with no music, he started asking a bunch of questions. Next thing Cydney knew, he was on one knee asking her to marry him. And of course, Cydney’s reaction: Really? Are you serious?!? Not sure what to say, Kiel said, “Well, I have a ring . . .” Obviously Cydney said yes and as soon as Kiel got up off his knee a bunch of women from the store looking onto the courtyard came out clapping and cheering for them. Cydney turned 3 different shades of red, while Kiel leaned in and said that he had totally planned for that to happen! With all of Cydney’s snooping and trying to figure everything out . . . Kiel had completely caught her off guard and surprised her! Couldn’t have been anymore perfect!

Image Courtesy of: Wedding Paper Divas

Even after your “I Do’s” and your honeymoon, there are still a few things that must taken care of before the wedding planning phase of your life is over. One of those tedious tasks often includes changing your maiden name. This task can sometimes seem like checklist of things to do on its own. So the following is a checklist of the to-dos for carrying out the process:

1. Order extra certified copies of your marriage certificate for agencies that require originals before allowing you to change your name on documents.
2. Request a new Social Security card reflecting your name change. Visit Service Canada to find out how, click here.
3. Visit your department of motor vehicles for a new driver’s license. Find out in advance which documents you’ll need to bring in order to certify the validity of your name change. Visit AMA Alberta for more details, click here.
4. Obtain and complete a Passport Amendment/Validation Application. Send this along with appropriate fees, your current passport(s), and a certified documentation of your name change (such as a certified copy of a marriage certificate or court papers) to the nearest passport agency.
5. In addition to changing your name on your car registration, insurance, mortgage company, frequent-flier programs, etc. . . . make sure to order replacement checks, business cards, credit cards, and other documents as well that contain your old name
6. Call employers and schools (if you are a student) to inform them of your name change, and ask them to change it in their records.
7. Make the announcement to your family and friends.

Name Change After Marriage

The list definitely seems long. So another quick and inexpensive alternative to getting your name changed is using name changing services such as MissNowMrs.com. Simply answer and fill out MissNowMrs’ online marriage name change questions and forms, and voilà you’ll officially have your name changed in no time flat.

World renowned Wedding Planner and Slice TV’s host of Wedding SOS, Jane Dayus-Hinch, stopped by Wedding Bells the other day, and soon she’ll be making a stop at Bridal Conference: Fall’s Boutique Bridal Show.

Because if you don’t know already, Jane Dayus-Hinch is this year’s celebrity guest speaker for Bridal Conference! With 25 year’s of wedding planning experience under her belt, Jane must have dozens of tips and suggestions when it comes to wedding planning, relationships, and marraige. So make sure to get tickets to see Jane speak at this year’s Bridal Conference and also connect with all the expert wedding resources you’ll need to plan your dream wedding.