Nancy Bui-Dang
and
TonyVongsaly
The Engagement.
September 10th 2016
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. They had decided to host an Engagement BBQ at his sister's house in her backyard. They had such wonderful friends and family that helped prepare and set everything up. She was so excited about the engagement that she had most of the logistics planned just a few days of being engaged!
Being a perfectionist, she was freaking out about every single little detail, but not wrongfully so. Everything seemed to be against her. The Asian meat skewers did not taste how they were supposed to. The perfectly round balloons she ordered online were NOT perfectly round. The weather that day was calling for 60% chance of rain. The Instagram cutout was not even finished. There were no decorations for the house. She was feeling so bloated that day and had nothing to wear. And lastly, the confirmed guest list was way too large for the location.
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In the end, her knight-in-shining-armour swooped in and saved the day. Their friends and family came to help and she finally calmed down and thought to herself, "I think things are gonna be alright." People started to show up. Everyone enjoyed the food and drinks. He was manning the grill under the gazebo canopy. The weather turned out to be just perfect. They knew his parents were watching over them that day. ^.^
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The engagement turned out amazing. She was worried for nothing. Seeing their friends and family together warmed her heart. They were so happy and grateful. It was the perfect day, with the best people, to celebrate their love.
The Forever.
November 16th 2016
Just a few months later after their engagement, they decided to get married at City Hall in Ottawa, Ontario. Their plan was to get legally married first and then have their wedding celebration with family and friends in the summer. It was a very spontaneous decision; they wanted to get married before traveling to Vietnam that December. They had originally planned to get married in the new year-January 2017. But she couldn't wait!
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It was a small group of family and friends that joined them for the ceremony that morning. The ceremony started at 11:00am. She wore a flowy, short white dress with white leg warmers and a veil on her head. He wore skinny jeans with a white dress shirt and a black tie. The judge escorted them to the small intimate room and immediately said as they entered, "So I will have to ask you this important question first..." She doesn't know why but she was SO nervous then. The judge continued, "Would you like the lights turned brighter or leave it dim and romantic like how it is now?" At that moment, she felt as if she was back in University, sitting in a classroom chair about to take the hardest exam of her life and she didn't know the answer to the first question.
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The ceremony began. Emotions started to take over. She realized this was it, this was actually really happening. She was about to marry the man of her dreams, her soulmate, her forever. There was so much happiness that she couldn't stop smiling. He couldn't stop smiling. They looked into each others' eyes, exchanged rings and said, "I Do."
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The newlyweds and their group went to celebrate at New Generation Sushi nearby and had an amazing time. They definitely drank way too much sake that afternoon. To continue the theme of spontaneity, she decided to go to Escape Manor down the street. She called and postponed the reservations at least 5 times that evening. At this point, her friends were the only ones left. For good luck, she ordered a round of Fireball shots before going in. He was passed out on the couch in the waiting area. Of course, without the newlyweds working together, they didn't successfully escape the room. They went back to the condo, picked up 10 cheeseburgers made like a Bigmac from McDonald's and karaoke'd the rest of the night. It was the best day ever.
The Forever After.
July 23rd 2017
She wanted a summer wedding. He wanted to get married. And now, they have both! The official Vietnamese Tea Ceremony and Wedding Reception will take place in the summer of 2017. They cannot wait for this day to come!
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Life is short. Do what you want. Eat what you can. Love with all your heart.
The Beginning.
June 8th 2014
It was love at first sight. He works in the same workplace as her, but they had never spoken to each other in the beginning. She had only talked to him when she needed help with something IT-related. He was known as the IT guy at work. It wasn't until one day on Lync (internal work chat app), he called her out on only messaging him when she needed something. This made her laugh so hard, her supervisor had to ask if everything was alright. At that point in their lives, they both had been going through rough times and needed support... someone to bring out the best in each other and not the worse. She knew there was something special about this guy. He was exactly who she needed, the person that she's been searching for her entire life. She knew he was her soulmate.
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They were at their little apartment in Aylmer that Sunday afternoon. They had been living together for quite some time now but he had never asked her to officially be his, make what they had exclusive. Things just felt so right with each other that they felt like an old married couple. That day, she was in the small kitchen of theirs. He came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her. He does this a lot and she loves it! He held her gently and asked her to officially be his girlfriend. That marked the beginning of a beautiful fairy tale happily ever after...
The Proposal.
July 29th 2016
It was a Friday afternoon at work. He messages her on Lync and casually brings up the fact that the boys originally wanted to do a boys night out after work but they changed their minds and wanted to do a couples night out instead. Her intuition told her that something was up... The boys never want to "hang out" with their wives. He was so casual about the plans too. He kept saying that the choice is mine, it all depends on how I feel about going out that night. But he knew her well enough. He knew that all he had to do was provide her with a name of the restaurant and she would have checked out the menu and her heart would have been set (her weaknesses: oysters, ahi tuna and tartare).
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She'd also been having wedding fever from all the engagement and wedding buzz on her Facebook. However, it was already a significant day; they were picking up the new house keys from the notary office that afternoon. Because of this, she thought, "there couldn't possibly be a second significant event to happen today."
So after work, she was getting ready to go out for dinner at Fratelli in Westboro. As she was doing her make up, she thought, "It's such a nice, fancy place for dinner... we normally go to pubs with friends. I wonder if he's gonna propose tonight!!!" She jokingly asked him if he was going to propose. He laughed and jokingly responded, "Well, you never know. Maybe, maybe not!" He's been giving her this same response every single time she asks. And she's been asking a lot.
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When she got to the restaurant, one of the boys had brought along their fancy professional camera to dinner. He said he was supposed to meet with a buyer after dinner because he was selling his camera. This raised some suspicion. They sat down and ordered their drinks and food. The food and company was so great that eventually, she had forgotten all about her thoughts of a proposal even happening. It was after dinner and everyone was taking group photos. He used this opportunity to switch places with his sister (who was sitting next to her). He then asked her to check her phone because she was tagged in a photo on Facebook. She opened the app and saw the most heartwarming picture collage! Her baby cousins in Windsor, her best friends from different cities, his adorable niece and nephew and of course, the groom-to-be, holding up individual letters that read, "Will you marry me?" with the caption, "Em se lay anh chu" in Vietnamese.
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Her heart dropped. She was in complete shock. Her hands trembled. She turned and looked at him to find him down on one knee asking her to marry him. In that very moment, time seemed to have stopped. She felt as if it were only him and her. Tears came pouring out uncontrollably. It was the happiest day of her life. The answer was, YES!
