Dream Wedding Giveaway: Alex & Melissa

Alex had always been interested in charity work and had participated in various events through high school and college, but found his passion in Habitat for Humanity (H4H).  He liked being able to get out of his dorm room on weekends and work with his hands instead of sitting at a desk studying.  It was an outlet of sorts with a constructive bonus.  He was also enthusiastic about the Alternative Spring Break trips that his college H4H chapter sponsored every year.  Entering his Junior year of college at Illinois Wesleyan University, he was single and ready to mingle and made several good friends through the Habitat.  Late that fall, preparations for the 2007 spring break trip were in full swing and he thought to himself, 'I bet I could meet some really nice ladies on this trip, too!'. 

Melissa was a chemistry major who shared a similar passion for Habitat for Humanity.  She had become the chapter president and led the group for two years.  Between Habitat, her chemistry major, and event planning with her sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, she had little time to date.  Her mind was on the planning, not on the scenery.  She watched several houses go from foundation to finished with her own hard work and the work of everyone in the chapter.  That fall, her Sophomore year of college, she was a part of the trip planning for the H4H Alternative Spring Break.  A destination of Bay St. Louis, MS, was decided upon by the chapter, the city that marked the landfall of Hurricane Katrina.  Their group would arrive a year and a half after the hurricane ravaged the region.

They both arrived safe and sound.  He had noticed her. She had noticed him.  He thought "she knows how to use a chop saw", she thought "he has stunning wit and charm" (ok, maybe not, but that's what Alex tells himself).  Instead of sleeping to recuperate after each long day of work, they sat up talking religion and politics into the late hours of the night.  By the time they had left at the end of the week, each felt as if they were old friends.  They started dating within a week and never looked back.

OK!  That was the story of how we met.  Almost FIVE years later, Alex began devising a plan...

It had to be big, spectacular, and special.  He didn't want to put her on the spot, but he wanted the world to know that he was going to marry Melissa Myers.  He took a quote from Anchorman (Melissa rolled her eyes when she heard the inspiration) that said "I just wanted to shout it from on top of a mountain, but I didn't have a mountain. I had a newsroom and a camera."  Well, Alex wanted a mountain and found the perfect excuse.  Melissa's school was organizing a ski trip, an opportunity Melissa would not pass up!  He made plans for several other trip attendees to go up the mountain while he took Melissa to lunch.  They were to take with them temporary spray paint (with the unwavering approval of the ski patrol, no illegal graffiti-ing was perpetrated) and put a huge sign in the snow under one of the ski lifts that read "Melissa, Will You Marry Me?" in bright orange.  Melissa was none the wiser when they split for lunch as the group had been separated most of the day. 

He took her up the ski lift, heart absolutely racing, and waited for her to see the sign.  Her initial reaction was to bemoan some graffiti artists (before she had gotten close enough to read it), then to question whether this message was meant for her, and finally to utter shock!  Alex looked at her and professed his undying love, and she accepted his proposal 200 feet in the air strapped securely to a chair lift.  To her horror, he immediately began taking out the ring. She told him that now was not a good time to take out the ring.  He brushed off her concern and pulled the ring out with gloved hand.  The fumble happened in slow motion, she watched as it slipped from his gloved fingers, fell to the chair emitting a loud 'tink', and then falling 200 feet to the snow below.  She stared in horror at the snow, looked at Alex, who looked equally as horrified, and had her fears confirmed.  Alex couldn't take her horrified look, he immediately confessed that it was, in fact, a fake ring that he had purposely fumbled.  He waited until they got off the ski lift, properly bent upon one ski boot, and gave her the real ring.  They skied down a good deal later (she needed some time to recover) and accidentally came upon the dropped ring amidst the vast field of snow!  Melissa became a mini-celebrity for the rest of the week, as this sign was under the main ski lift for the mountain and no new snow fell until the weekend.