When it came time to propose to Leslie, I knew I wanted to do it in grand fashion. I wanted to give her that storybook proposal that every woman dreams of as a little girl, the "knight in shining armor coming to ask the princess for her hand in marriage". Although that particular proposal has been almost "overdone", I knew with a little thought and imagination I could come up with a plan that would sweep her off her feet. Leslie and I enjoy traveling, and one of our favorite spots is Nantucket Island in the spring. That is when Nantucket hosts "Daffodil Weekend" an event that steps back to the 1920’s to the "Great Gatsby" era. We try to attend every year and always enjoy watching festivities such as the Daffodil Parade, where people decorate their antique cars with daffodils and dress up in period costumes. Leslie had always remarked that it would be fun to actually participate in the parade some year, instead of just being a spectator. I didn’t own a vintage car, so Leslie dismissed the idea and never really thought about it again.

She may have dismissed it, but I never forgot. I made some calls and was able to find a friend who knew someone who had a car in the parade and had room in their car for the two of us. My plan was starting to come together, but how could I ensure Leslie would be dressed in the appropriate clothes without raising her suspicions. I decided to casually mention that there was a possibility of us being able to tag along with some people that had a car in the parade, but not to get her hopes up. A few weeks later I suggested that we should probably bring along some period clothes, so in the event that we were able to tag along, we would be dressed appropriately. I also hired a photographer to follow us around and record the day’s events.

I had my atmosphere, now I needed my actual proposal plan. There’s a saying, "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue". I figured I already had the "something old", the antique car and "something new" the ring. I was able to "borrow" a picnic basket, which we needed for the picnic that followed the parade, and I would be wearing a "blue" seersucker suit as my costume. Perfect!

The day of the parade we were informed that we would be able to ride along in one of the cars. We got dressed in our period costumes and met up with the people we would be riding with. The parade was wonderful and Leslie really enjoyed being in it. Little did she know what was to come!

The parade culminates with all the cars pulling off to the side of the road and the people setting up elaborate picnic displays. As we were setting up our picnic, my photographer came up to us and said she was from the local paper and would we mind if she took our picture in front of our car. As she was composing the picture she appeared to be confused. She said that "something was wrong, some thing was missing". I looked at her with puzzlement. "What could be wrong? What could be missing?" "We’ve got this great car, we’re dressed in these great costumes, what could be missing?" I paused for a moment and then said, "Wait I know, " We’ve got something old (pointing to the antique car), something borrowed (the picnic basket) and I’m wearing a blue suit" "All that’s missing is something new!" As I said these last words I proceeded to get down on one knee, pull out a ring box, open it, and ask Leslie if she would marry me.

With some 500 people milling about, Leslie was so awestruck that she forgot to answer the question. When a member of the crowd yelled out, "Well? What’s the answer?" She finally replied with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

Leslie was so impressed that she encouraged me to share my creative planning expertise with the rest of the world. Quickly, I discovered an untapped marketplace, and business has been booming ever since.