by: It didn't take Mike and Tonicia very long to know they were right for each other. So, talks of marriage were customary between them. And if you're talking marriage, you're talking proposals. To this, Tonicia had two special requests:
1. She wanted it to be creative.
2. She wanted their families there or close by.
But, dear reader, you need to know a couple of things about this darling couple ... Tonicia is an EMT {Emergency Medical Technician} and Mike has been a firefighter since high school--his complete passion. Tonicia said, "His fellow firefighters have been so good to us that Mike wanted to involve them too. It was extremely significant to have the fire department around and involved. It's our world."
And thus the setting of one of the sweetest surprise proposals we've ever heard. Enjoy.
And sharing her {very public!} surprise wedding proposal is our lovely bride-to-be: Tonicia
How Mike made sure Tonicia was there: "The week of July 16th Mike had his lieutenant call me and ask me to take photos for the parade that their fire department was going to be in. They also told me they were going to pay me $100 AN HOUR. Little did I know I had a bigger surprise for me that day!
I went to the parade with Mike's parent's, sister, and cousins. The fire dept. had nine trucks in the parade and Mike told me he was going to be in ladder 3. The fire trucks were crossing each other the whole parade but once they got to where I was {which happened to be right next to the news station} they lined four trucks on each side of the road and all of the crew members got out of their trucks and lined up.
Then, ladder 3 comes speeding down between the engines and rescue trucks with a giant American flag, lights, and sirens ... however, Mike was not in the bucket like he told me he would be! I started walking towards the front so that I could get some pictures. Then ... Mike got out of the truck and walked to the media booth. I barely saw him and continued snapping pictures because I thought he was just saying the pledge or something. Mike grabbed the mic, {and my mother-in-law ripped my camera off my neck} and he said over the mic,
"I would like to call Tonicia Ferguson out."
I started freaking out because I knew what was happening. Although we just talked about this, I didn't think Mike was going to propose just then because my parents were on vacation. {See special request #2} That said, I started walking out there ... with my hand on my mouth and shaking. I finally reached him and he said:
"I just want to say, you're the most amazing girl I've ever met. I can't imagine life without you. Will you marry me?"
At that point I was SHOCKED and bawling my eyes out.. (so was he!) I didn't even say yes.. I just jumped into his arms... I finally said "OF COURSE" --at least I thought I said it. My parents came home from vacation early and Mike's whole family was there! It was the best proposal ever! However, I'm pretty biased! One of our favorite things from this whole engagement is seeing our parents' so ecstatic and proud!
{YAY! Such a sweet capturing of one of the sweetest moments a couple can have!!}
And now, Mike and Tonicia are saving the date for next fall!
Mike and Tonicia personalized Slide Show Photo Booth Save the Date Magnet!
Wedding Style: Rustic
Wedding Colors: Red, Orange, Yellow
Photography: Mrs. Ferguson {Tonicia's talented mom!}
Photo Booth Save the Date Magnet: MagnetStreet Weddings
Why did they choose Slide Show design? "We wanted to incorporate our wedding colors of red, orange and yellow into our save the dates. Our pictures are fun and show a lot of our personality so we wanted that to show through our save the dates! They are casual and fun! Tonicia
Pro Shout Out
Photographer: Mrs. Ferguson
I loved having my mom photograph us. She was so patient with us and we all had fun doing it. She's a big scrapbooker so she knew exactly what kind of pictures she wanted
MagnetStreet Weddings
We actually had the honor of working with a MagnetStreet designer and designing it together. It was super easy and fun to do! We were able to customize it to make it look exactly how we want it! We kind of had an idea of what we wanted already in our heads. We told the designer and started pulling up templates and finally we just started designing! We wanted at least a couple pictures on there! Our engagement photos had our date on them already so we weren't too worried about having a lot of wording.
Congratulations Mike and Tonicia!
Thanks for sharing this momentous time in your lives with us! Not only {Tonicia} did you get both of your special proposal requests fulfilled -you gave the gift of joy to everyone in the fire department and the community watching the parade! Mike, you're an inspiration to all the guys out there!
xo
