WARNING: This is going to be a long-winded post that contains lots of cheese and unrelated car content. You have been warned.

I’ve been getting a lot of asks about how the day went and what went down. For the most part, everyone that wasn’t involved only knew what was happening according to Instagram posts or by following the hashtag #jasonputsaringonit. No details were included because I really just wanted the day to be about Diana. This was her day and she deserved it more than anyone. So as per the warning above, it’ll be a long and cheesy kind of post, but it’s one that is worth looking back on for me and anyone else that was involved in one way or another.

I’m going to start this post off a little differently. I’ll begin with a picture that would’ve been at the end, and I’ll finish the post that would’ve been at the start. You’ll see why later…

This picture is one of the last pictures that we took of the day. These people here are the people that I asked to come together to help make the day for Diana incredibly special. Each and every single one of them has played a special part in Diana’s life in one point or another and still do today. They are the ones that truly care for her well-being, her life, and most importantly – her happiness. I wanted to bring a group of people that were just as excited as I was to make this happen for Diana and as I look at this picture again, only a few days later – I’m truly grateful that Diana has you guys in her life, and there are no other people better suited than you guys. You can tell that her smile is not just because she got the ring she’s been wanting for as long as I can remember, but it’s also because you guys were there to share it with her. When she thinks back on the day, she remembers you guys the most and that is what I wanted.

The picture is missing JC, Gopesh and Punit. The day would not have been possible without JC and Gopesh, and the rest of us wish that Punit was able to be there as well.

So with that, we begin the journey and how it all started… I set up a scavenger hunt with her best friends – Jenn and Eva. I asked them to take time out of their week to make a trip down from BC to help make this happen and they did. The plan was to ask Diana to come out for some coffee and catch up. They do this a few times every year when they come to visit, so this isn’t out of the ordinary for Diana. Upon meeting Diana, I asked that they talk with her for a bit and hand her the letter, confessing that today is not actually to meet up and have coffee.

I told Diana in the letter that I have been thinking about how to propose over the last year, but could not find the absolute best way to do it to surprise her. Instead, she will be doing a scavenger hunt with Jenn and Eva. The only rules were that she had to hand her phone over to Jenn so that she could not contact anyone and nobody could contact her. She had to read each letter outload. And to have fun. JC and Gopesh were to show up as she was done reading the letter to head out to the next clue…

Here’s the first picture that was taken that day with JC in the car. I love how happy Diana is here.

A shot from Gopesh’s car. Unfortunately the weather did not want to cooperate with us, but it wouldn’t stop us!

The second clue was at the back of our Junior High – where we met for the first time. There, she met Julee – my sister. The best part of all of this is that she didn’t know she was going to meet other people, and after the fact – she didn’t know how many people she was going to meet either.

A picture of the girls up to this point.

Third clue was with Ricky at Eau Claire market.

Diana reading the third clue. The pictures get better from here on out because Ricky was kind enough to bring his camera along and take some pics.

A quick shot of them outside of Eau Claire Market.

The fourth clue was at a Hill near Diana’s house. There she met her sister – Cindy.

Diana reading the fourth clue.

Taking shots. One thing I told everybody over and over again was that at each location, I wanted a picture of Diana with whoever the clue was with the envelope. They had to instagram it with the hashtag #jasonputsaringonit and move on. This meant that by the end of it all, Diana was able to look back on the hashtag in chronological order and remember everything.

Diana and her sister.

Some more chit chat.

Heading down the hill to the next spot.

Urban Venus Nail Salon downtown was the next spot.

Ricky caught a quick picture of Diana crying. I liked this picture because you can see the girls in the back also finding out what she just did…

She met her cousins – Sara and Shereen – who also came down from BC to help her out. She doesn’t get to see Sara and Shereen too often, so it was awesome of them to come down.

Diana reading the fifth letter.

That fifth letter just said that all the girls get manicures!! This was my favourite picture of the day because Diana is smiling back at the camera. There isn’t a single picture where everyone isn’t smiling!

A group shot. No, the boys did not get manicures – but thank you for posing like you did! The group grows!

Here Sara and Shereen are giving her the sixth clue.

Pose for the camera!

Walking out and heading over to the next spot! I know she was getting super anxious.

Seventh clue! Now she’s met up with her friends Chaya and Ramsha at Moxies Market Mall. I treated everybody out to a small little lunch and why are they at Moxies? Because Diana’s favourite dessert – White Chocolate Brownie – is here! So everybody gets a piece!

Julee trying to get out of the shot. But you can’t escape the wide angle.

The other table. Gopesh looking happy as ever.

The dessert.

Diana!

Stomachs all full. Outside and ready for the next clue!

A big group shot of the girls with the eighth clue.

Everyone holding up #8!

Reading the letter…

They arrived at the next spot – the base of our new home. Nothing is done yet, but this is where it’ll be. There she met my family and her family. Here she reads the ninth letter…

And before she knows it, Diana looks at the ring she’s stared at for years in a glass cabinet at the Tiffany store. She finally gets what she’s always wanted.

Good capture Ricky. Kodak moments.

Diana still crying.

Everyone whipping out their cameras/phones.

Ricky got a nice close up of the ring.

Yay!!

Some group pictures! With Sara and Shereen.

Eva and Jenn

My family.

Diana’s family.

Chaya and Ramsha

Bro hugs for JC. JC and Gopesh absolutely killed it with the timing on everything that day. I can’t even count how many times I messaged them over the past few weeks about being on time and making sure this works perfectly. Thank you, JC and Gopesh for being a part of this.

As I write this, I can’t help but think how awesome it was that it started raining as soon as I slipped the ring on Diana’s finger. Call me crazy, but it’s almost like the sky cried with everybody else that day. Up until today, I felt that the rain made the day a little less perfect. Now I can’t think it could’ve been any more perfect.

Picture with Ricky – the guy who’s been my right hand man since the day we were born. Thank you for everything!

Our first shot together! haha

Back at my place to get fat. My parents had made a bunch of food for us because most of us didn’t have appetites all day. We still didn’t… but we tried.

Diana is red because of the shots… lol

Some quick group photos… lol

One last one of Diana with Jenn and Eva before the night was about to end.

Finally – as I said, I will end it with a picture that should have started this post. A shot of the itinerary for the day and the back of one of the letters. The reason I’m ending it with this is because this is how it started. Over the last 10-12 weeks, I’ve been meticulously planning and making sure everything came together, making sure timing was right, reservations were made, and that everybody knew the details inside and out. I am the type of person that can’t afford to have mistakes. That also means I’m the type of person that can get annoying by nagging at people to make sure no mistakes are made. Multiple emails were sent back and forth quadruple checking that everybody understood it like the back of their hand just like I did.

I can’t even begin to thank everybody that was involved enough. The effort you all put in and the time you made for this day – for Diana – means so much to me that I cannot quantify it. Each and every person put in 120% and I appreciate that from the bottom of my heart. I am so glad that all of you accepted to be a part of this, and I know you all thank me for asking you to be a part of it, but don’t be mistaken – I did nothing – you made the day for Diana. If we had to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. If there is such a thing as an A-Team – you guys are the definition of it.

Thank you all x infinity. I love you all!

Diana – Julee – Cindy – Jenn – Eva – Sara – Shereen – Ricky – Chaya – Ramsha – JC – Gopesh