Jennifer + Aaron

JENNIFER + AARON

Mambo Taxi’s and Will You Marry Me?

Aaron had told me two or so months prior to the proposal, to mark my calendar on March 15th for a dinner with his coworkers. One of the guys from the Houston office was coming up so it was going to be a fun night, and I needed to make sure I was available. We never really spoke about it again until a couple of weeks before. He then informs me that we were also going to be celebrating a coworker’s wife’s birthday that night, and she had chosen to have dinner at Mi Cocina (where we had our first date)­ cue all the Mambo Taxis for this girl! Being that I am a lover of all things tequila – I decided it would be best for me to take off work the next day so I could rest and pack before leaving for our trip on Saturday. He talked the dinner up and told me there would be quite a few people there, as she was inviting her friends. So, I obviously started planning my outfit! Like I said, it just so happened that we were leaving for vacation on Saturday so I had also had a mani and a spray tan­ – every girl’s vaca essentials. Let me add, this was one of the many smart moves he made. He knows me all too well knowing that I make sure that I have a spray tan and mani before any big event, and this event was going to be the BIGGEST thus far (I just had NO idea)!

Flash forward to Thursday, March 15th, 2018. He asked me earlier in the day if I wanted to go have drinks at the (fake) birthday girl’s house before dinner. All of his coworkers have children and they had hired a sitter to watch all the kids. The parents were going to get the kids settled in and have a drink. Knowing I obviously would decline that offer, he said he would just tell them we would get to Mi Cocina early to make sure the room they had reserved was ready and we’d have a drink. So indeed that is what we did.

We arrived and headed to the bar to get Mambo Taxis. While we were waiting on our drinks, he told me he had a surprise for me in the room. My response­ – “please tell me it’s queso because I am starving!” We grabbed our drinks and made our way to the private room. We walked in and there were four round tables and one long table in the front, with a gorgeous arrangement of flowers. Still having no clue of what is about to happen, I tell him this setup of tables is not going to work. I insisted that we have the manager come in and replace the round tables with longer ones, so we would not feel so separated during dinner. I am a control freak,­ I know. He finally got me to give it up and we sat down. We chatted for a few minutes and then he pulled out a small flat box and said here is your surprise! I had no idea what it was. It wasn’t shaped like a ring box and to be honest, and I figured he would propose when we were on a trip anyway. I opened the box and there was a necklace with a sound wave etched on the front of the pendant. I was very confused and my face was clearly not hiding it. He told me to turn it over and on the back of the pendant it said WILL YOU MARRY ME? He had sent an audio file of his voice saying “Will you marry me?” and had the sound wave of his voice etched on the front of the pendant. Is that not the sweetest?! I freaked out when I realized what it said, and I looked up and Aaron was down on one knee. I have no idea what he said because I was so overwhelmed and caught off guard. I do remember asking him if he was serious over and over before I said yes! Fun detail­ – we were actually sitting in the same spot we sat on our first date! I was so impressed and felt so special knowing the thought he put into planning his proposal. This was just the beginning to an unforgettable week!

I had tried to Facetime my parents and my sister and no one would answer. Little did I know that they were in the parking lot waiting on my call. That was there cue to come in. Within seconds of saying yes, my entire family was there! At this point, I asked if his coworkers were coming and if we were still there for a work dinner. About that time, our closest friends arrived to join us. He had flown one of my best friends from Houston up as well! We ate, drank and celebrated all night long. Thank goodness I had taken off work the next day! Aaron made sure that night was so perfect and it is one I will never forget. But it doesn’t stop there! We left for vacation two days later and instead of returning home to Tulsa, he changed our flight to arrive in Chicago. He rented a room at one of our favorite spots in the city and his entire family was there! Am I not the luckiest girl?!? It was so incredible to be able to celebrate our engagement with all of our family and friends in two different cities! We had THE BEST week and felt so much love all around us. We are looking forward to celebrating in June with even more family and friends. See you on the dance floor!