It is said that in the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

And when that happens, that young man’s thoughts soon turn — not so lightly — to thoughts of engagement rings. Wedding dates. Marriage proposals so elaborate the question-posers are undoubtedly ready for the altar and all that follows.

We asked our readers how they went about proposing marriage. The stories that came in were wild and varied. From ambush-style proposals to long-game sneakiness a year or more in the planning.

We’ve got double fakes. We’ve got ladies proposing to men. We’ve got proposals being popped all over the place, from the highest mountains to the lush green of the disc golf course.

We begin with one patient and careful fellow who more or less gathered an army to make his proposal work just right.

‘ONE BIG KABOOM!’ VAUGHN DYER’S CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MARRIAGE 

Vaughn Dyer was in a quandary. 

A retired cop, Vaughn was 57 years old and in love with a woman he’d been with for seven years. 

He wanted to marry her, that much was clear. He wanted her to have a big ol’ wedding, with friends and family and all the usual pomp and hoopla. 

He DIDN’T, however, want his lady to have to go through all the stress and strain of planning a wedding. His beloved had a touch of anxiety and Vaughn wanted to spare her the stress. 

So he went to work — about a year’s worth of work, as it turned out.

And my, how his plan came together when it was go time.

It was Oct. 23 in 2004 and as far as Diane Larrabee knew, she was simply going to watch Vaughn perform as part of the Kora Highlanders bagpipe band. She’d watched him perform many times before. This was nothing new. 

“He said, ‘You know, the 23rd of October, we’ve got to play at a wedding in Cape Elizabeth and the wives are invited,'” recalls Diane, 54. “So that’s how he got me to the church.” 

They got to the church, all right, and things took a turn for the surreal. 

They were at the Spurwink Church in Cape Elizabeth. Diane was so nonplussed about the event, she had taken a nice, easy nap prior to to the event. But once they arrived, strange things began to happen. 

Why did Vaughn suddenly stop and turn to address her? Why was everybody in the church staring at her so fixedly and why were there so many familiar faces out there? 

“He proposed,” Diane says. “Right there in front of everybody. I had no idea it was coming. I thought I was going to someone ELSE’S wedding and it’s a big, elaborate proposal, instead.” 

But it was more than that. Vaughn wanted to get married right there, on the spot. First, he needed Diane’s answer. 

“He said, ‘If you say no, we’ll just have a great big party,'” Diane says. “‘If you say yes, we’re going to do it right now. We’re going to get married.’ I was so nervous when I realized what was taking place.” 

If she was nervous about the logistics of the affair, she needn’t have worried. Vaughn had taken care of literally everything, from the guest list to the licenses to matrons of honor and best men. 

When she finally gathered herself enough to look around, she began to realize this. Pretty much everyone she held dear was in attendance. 

“My two daughters were there and they were my matrons of honor,” she said. “My son was there and walked me down the aisle. There were five of us girls who have been very close since grade school and so they were in it, too. They were bridesmaids. My granddaughter was junior bridesmaid and my grandson was the ring bearer. Vaughn’s two boys were his best men.” 

The town manager and town clerk were in attendance to sign the marriage license. The minister who was to marry them was a member of the Kora Highlanders. 

And speaking of the Highlanders, Vaughn hadn’t lied when he said they were there to play for a wedding. 

“They played as we walked down the aisle,” Diane says. 

The wedding went off without a hitch, but that was hardly the end of Vaughn’s schemes. There was the reception and the honeymoon to consider. 

They had a reception at a hall just down the road from the church. Vaughn had booked the place and his surprises just kept coming. 

“My brother was in a band called Flashback so they played to the reception,” Diane says. “Vaughn’s daughter-in-law makes cakes, so she made one all in seashell motif. His mom, two sisters and brother-in-law and my mother did all the cooking.” 

They even had moonshine, straight out of the hills of North Carolina. It was all such a fun and lavish time, it would have been really too bad if Diane had to go straight back to work the following day. 

But, nope. Vaughn had that covered as well. 

“My boss had come to the wedding,” Diane says, “and he said, ‘You have next week off.'” 

Diane’s family had come up from North Carolina and there were already several trips planned with the happy couple. You name a component of a wedding, Vaughn had planned for it. 

For Diane, widowed and headed into her second marriage, it was exactly what she needed. 

“I have anxiety attacks and all that,” she says. “He knew I would have stress and so he just removed the stress from it by doing everything for me. He did it all with one big kaboom.” 

Vaughn himself is a humble fellow and a man of few words. He said it took him roughly a year to plan everything out with the help of some co-conspirators. 

“It was a blast!” he says. “I had a lot of help from friends and family putting it all together.” 

Did he miss anything? 

Diane doesn’t think so. 

“He had every aspect covered,” she says. “He is the man with the plan.” 

A HALLOWEEN PROPOSAL WITH A TWIST 

Jessica Waite, of Auburn, proposed to her boyfriend the night before Halloween at their favorite club. That story would be cool enough on its own. 

But wait! There’s more! 

As it turns out, the only reason Jessica was able to propose was because she happened to beat her boyfriend, Skot Pearson, to the punch. 

Jessica’s best friend, Michael Theberge, is here to explain. This is a man who considers the couple a part of his family so he knew full well that Halloween was an important part of their romance. He also knew they were deeply in love, so it was no surprise that they would want to get married. 

It just didn’t go quite as Theberge had imagined it would.

“Skot pulls me aside and tells me he is going to propose to Jess on Halloween,” Theberge recalls. “I’m thinking, that is incredible because I know how they love that holiday.” 

That’s when the twist came into play. 

“I swear, not even two hours later, Jess pulls me aside and tells me SHE was going to propose to Skot on Halloween,” Theberge says. “Now I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Do I say something or do I just let it play out? I was really torn.” 

What was unfolding before Theberge’s eyes was potential calamity. Two people unknowingly racing toward a proposal? How would THAT play out?

Theberge had to help either Jessica or Skot to smooth this along. But how to decide? 

“Jess is a little go-getter,” Theberge says, “So in the end, I decided my money was on her — and I was right. We did much of the planning right under Skot’s nose — thought for sure he’d figured it out, but he didn’t.” 

Then came the Saturday night preceding Halloween. Jessica and Skot were among friends at an Auburn club. Jessica was ready to make her move. She had been planning for this moment since June of 2021 and she had co-conspirators. 

“I spoke with the owner of our favorite hangout, the Craftbrew Underground (in Auburn),” Jessica explains. “He was so happy to be a part of our story and did all he could to help things go smoothly.” 

When the time came and the moment felt right, the bartender was cued to play the song “Love at First Fright” by the Murderdolls, which happened to be Jessica and Skot’s favorite. Excited by this, Skot got up and began to dance around. 

“I asked him to sit down — he thought it was because he was being too rowdy,” Jessica says. “I got down on one knee . . .” 

Yup, she was doing it, right there in the club. Video of the event shows Jessica kneeling before a seated Skot, who looks utterly perplexed by the vanishing of the song and by the sudden interest of the crowd. 

“Skot was so caught off guard,” Jessica says now. 

“It actually took a minute for him to figure out she was asking for real,” says Theberge. “It was fantastic.” 

In the video, Jessica presents Skot with a ring. For a moment, he looks only confused. Then realization dawns. He takes the ring and dutifully slides it onto Jessica’s finger. 

The deal is done. The couple are now engaged. Skot stands and lifts Jessica to her feet and the crowd applauds. 

For Jessica, the moment stands as one of her finest. The couple had endured a lot together. In 2012, on the anniversary of their first date, the couple was in a bike accident — an accident that left Skot with a fractured skull and which nearly cost Jessica her dominant arm.

Shortly after that, Jessica learned she was pregnant. But the couple managed through the crash ordeal together and made it all the way to the altar, thanks to some Halloween shenanigans. 

“He has been my rock,” Jessica says, “and gave me my other favorite person: Coraline Rose, our 8-year-old daughter. He is an amazing partner and the best father.” 

LOVE ON THE LINKS 

Ben Levasseur had been dating his girlfriend, Kimberly, for four years when he decided to pop the question. 

The pressure to come up with a unique and apropos wedding proposal can be immense for a young man, so once the decision was made, Ben got planning.

He tells the story of how it all went down in 2015. 

“I started to plan in April for our fifth dating anniversary, which is June 6th. I figured that would be a great day to propose — now to figure out how? Much brainstorming went into it with my family. It was finally decided that it would be great to propose where we had met: Sabattus Disc Golf. She worked there while I was a regular. I contacted the owner and told him what my plan was. He was pumped and told me he would accommodate any way he could.” 

Ben got in touch with a photographer, who was excited to shoot her very first wedding proposal. Now to put the plan in action. 

“The day eventually came,” Ben says. “I had told her we had plans for that night and she should get her nails done with my sisters. She chose orange for her nails — my sisters instantly looked at each other and said ‘She has no idea he’s proposing.’ 

“After the nails,” Ben continues, “I told her it would be nice to go play a round of disc golf to celebrate our first date and where we met. When we got to the course and parked, we saw the owner of the course with our photographer. He played it off that the photographer was there to take promotional pictures for the course and that maybe we will see each other on the course.” 

The couple got down to a rousing game of disc golf. 

“And by the way, my game was awful,” Ben says. “It was the last thing on my mind. When we got to the hole (where) I was going to propose, the owner and photographer were there and said they would take some action shots of the throws.” 

Ben threw first. Then it was Kimberly’s turn. Just another game of disc golf, nothing to see here. Until, that is, Ben pulled out a box of caramel popcorn. 

“I had always joked with her that when I proposed to her that the ring was going to come from a Cracker Jack box,” Ben says, “So during her throw, I was behind her and nodded to the photographer. I got on my knee with my Cracker Jack box and then she turned around after her throw and saw me kneeling. She was shocked. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I do know I asked her to marry me.” 

At first, Kimberly could manage only a single word. That word: “Seriously?” 

But finally the reality of the moment became clear and she was ready for her answer. Her answer was yes. She would indeed be happy to marry Ben Levasseur. 

“We kissed and hugged,” Ben recalls. 

But what to do about the disc golf game? By that point, Kimberly had come to realize that the skulking photographer wasn’t there to shoot disc golf. She was there to take pictures of the happy couple.

“We decided to do a little photo shoot instead of finishing our game,” Ben says. 

He had more surprises in store for his future wife. 

“When we got into the car, I told her that I promised her parents we would stop by their house after we were done,” he says. “What I didn’t tell her was that both our families would be there for a surprise engagement party for us.” 

This past November, the couple celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. They are expecting their first child together in early April.

Chances are good that kid will turn out to be one heck of a disc golfer. 

WIL KRAMLICH’S KILLER PROPOSAL? 

Wil Kramlich had a strange dilemma. His girlfriend’s mother was in the hospital being treated for a brain aneurysm. Since he felt it important that the woman be a part of his proposal to her daughter, Brittney, Will had planned to pop the question right there at her bedside. 

“But on the way to the hospital,” Wil says, “I got worried that doing so would surprise her mother and kill her.” 

You can understand the predicament. The Lewiston man had a nice thought that nonetheless could prove fatal. So he adjusted his plans. 

“Instead, my wife and I went to get a snack from the hospital cafeteria, and I figured that was my chance.” 

They were in the elevator when Wil got down on one knee and hit her with the Big Question. 

“And I tell you what,” Wil says. “That was the fastest elevator ride ever, because I was still on one knee when the elevator door opened.” 

There was nobody standing outside the elevator, but the moment did serve to hustle Brittney along with her answer. She said yes. 

“When we got back to her mother’s room — which was really like an open room with not-so-private curtains — we told her the good news,” Wil says, “and she was both excited and not so surprised that it killed her. But little did we know, all the nurses working in that station slowly descended on us until we heard some sniffling, and they were like: ‘That is so beautiful.’ And then one of them offered to take our picture, which ended up being the least-memorable photo ever — except it’s special to us.” 

Wil proposed on Dec. 5, 2014. He and Brittney were married Sept. 3, 2016. Their first daughter, Avery, was born the following winter, followed two years later by their second daughter, Quinn As for Brittney’s mom, she survived that major aneurysm and has been enjoying her time with Brittney, Wil and her two granddaughters.

KAREN WILSON AND TODD PAPIANOU’S WHITE POWDER ROMANCE 

“My husband and I love skiing,” Karen says. “We are experts and love a good powder day. We had been together for 6 years and living in Vermont. For one huge snowstorm, we went to ski Smugglers Notch ski area. It was an amazing day — incredible. Eighteen inches of light and fluffy snow, and we skied hard from first chair until 3:00.

“We took a break in the lodge and got a basket of fries. We were sharing them, and my husband looked up and said, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life skiing powder days with you. Will you marry me?’ I instantly began to cry, and said yes.

“People in the lodge heard us and clapped as he came over to me and kissed me. Best powder day ever! We have been married and skiing powder days together for almost 23 years now!” 

CELENE BROOKE-BOULET AND THE DOUBLE SURPRISE PARTY 

This lady thought she was playing a daring trick on her boyfriend. But as it turned out, her boyfriend, Dick Boulet, owner of what was then the Little Hobo restaurant in Lewiston, had a few tricks of his own. It was June of 1998.

“Dick and I had both been married before. We were in our 50s and had been dating for a year. His children — Kathy, Debbie and Mark — called me and explained they wanted to have a surprise birthday party for there dad, to be held at Kathy’s house. They took care of inviting people, the food, everything — my only job was to get him there.

“The day came and Dick decided he didn’t want to go to Kathy’s and I had to persuade him to go, then he wanted to watch something on TV so he said we could go later — no big deal! I was at wit’s ends, but he finally gave in to me and off we went. We drove up to the house and Dick kept pointing out cars that he recognized. Finally, we go into the house and everyone yells ‘SURPRISE’ and they sang ‘Happy Birthday.'” 

Celene was convinced she had helped pull one over on Dick. He totally fell for the surprise. Isn’t it great when that happens? 

With that in mind, she wasn’t prepared for what followed. 

“Candles were lit on the cake and people were telling him to come blow them out,” she recalls. “Dick turned to me and said ‘Come help me’ but I said, ‘It’s your cake!’ He insisted so I went over to help and bent down to help him and the cake said ‘Celene, will you marry me?’ The diamond ring was on the cake — I guess I was the only one who didn’t have a clue.” 

Well played, Dick. Two decades of wedded bliss followed the double surprise party. 

“Such a sweet man,” Celene says. “We had 20 years together and Dick passed away in 2018. What memories I have of him.” 

GERARD DENNISON GOES TO THE CHAPEL 

It was Christmas in 1988 and Gerard Dennison was inspired. He was 39, his lady 41, and both were ready to be married. Now all Gerard had to do was pop that question. 

“I gave it a lot of thought as to when and where would be the best place to do it, and it suddenly came to me. As a devout Catholic at the time, I thought the best romantic setting and place to do it would be in church. So I proposed to Patricia during Midnight Christmas Mass at St. Louis Church in New Auburn. She was very surprised and said ‘yes’ immediately.” 

They were married June 24, 1989, at St. Louis Church in Auburn. 

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