On September 19th, Alicia trades her job title for a much bigger one: wife. We caught up with her fiancé, Josh, to hear how “someday” finally got a date – a Christmas Eve proposal, a bold first meeting involving flowers and mistaken identity, and one very specific, non-negotiable request for married life. Read on.
The wedding is September 19th — how are you feeling right now: excited, nervous, or somewhere in between?
At this point, I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m not really nervous about the wedding itself. Most of my nervous energy right now is going toward making sure we’ve crossed all the i’s, dotted all the t’s, and remembered everything that needs to be remembered when you’re responsible for hosting a wedding.
The big stuff doesn’t make me nervous. Standing up in front of our family and friends, making that commitment to Alicia, and celebrating with everyone we love — I’m excited for all of that.
It’s the little details that keep me thinking, “Did we take care of that yet?”
So I’d say I’m excited, with just enough organizational anxiety to keep me checking the list.
Tell us the proposal story — where were you, and how nervous were you on a scale of “cool as a cucumber” to “sweating through your shirt”?
Alicia and I had always had this back-and-forth of, “I’m going to marry you someday.” It was something we both knew was probably going to happen, but there was never really a timeline attached to it.
At Christmas, though, I decided it was time to turn “someday” into an actual plan.
I had been saving for her ring, and it arrived just before Christmas. The day before the Christmas holidays, I stopped to talk to her dad on my way to pick Alicia up and asked for his permission. Thankfully, he was happy to give it.
Then, on Christmas Eve, we were just hanging out at home. Alicia wasn’t really feeling the Christmas spirit because of some of the previous holidays she’d experienced, so I decided to put on my suit.
She thought I was doing it to cheer her up.
I was actually putting it on because I was about to propose.
There was no giant spectacle, no crowd, no elaborate setup. Just a quiet Christmas Eve at home, me in a suit, and a ring.
As for how nervous I was? Somewhere between “cool as a cucumber” and “slightly more cucumber than usual.” I was nervous, but not big nervous.
I was considerably more nervous the first time I walked into Alicia’s workplace with flowers.
What’s the story of how you and Alicia met, and when did you know she was the one?
Alicia and I started chatting on Facebook Dating. It was literally my last hurrah on there before I was ready to give up because of all the duds and one-sided conversations.
Then I started talking to Alicia.
It was different almost immediately. We had more in common than anyone I had ever met before, and the conversations became very in-depth, very quickly. Before long, they were frequent and basically novel-length.
We had set up a date for sometime around May 15th, which worked with her schedule. But as we kept talking, I realized I really didn’t want to wait that long to meet her.
I knew where she worked and when she would be there, and after coming off a 12-hour night shift one weekend, I decided that showing up at her workplace with flowers would either be a really memorable first appearance or a spectacularly bad idea.
I hummed and hawed about it for a while because it was completely outside my comfort zone. Eventually I thought, “F*ck it. I want to meet this girl sooner rather than later.”
So I took a chance.
It turned out to be the best chance I’ve ever taken.
I walked into the cafe carrying flowers, looking for Alicia, and I’m pretty sure some of the staff initially thought I was a delivery guy.
I gave Alicia the flowers, we went outside to talk, and that was also when I met her mother.
As for when I knew she was the one, I think it came down to how completely comfortable I was being myself around her.
I didn’t have to put on a show, pretend to be something I wasn’t, or try to fit into some box I thought she might expect me to fit into.
I can be entirely myself with Alicia. It doesn’t matter how weird or silly things get — she’s still right there with me, 100%.
An armless man could count on his hands how many disagreements we’ve had.
More importantly, Alicia makes me want to be the best version of myself I can be.
That’s a pretty good indication you’ve found the right person.
What are you most looking forward to about the wedding day itself — or about married life after?
I think I’m looking forward to some of the fairytale aspect of the wedding itself.
Getting dressed up, making that commitment in front of our family and friends, having everyone we care about together in one place, and getting to celebrate with them. The first dance, the kiss, all that jazz.
There’s something pretty special about taking something that has been talked about as “someday” for so long and finally getting to stand there and make it official.
As far as married life goes, I don’t expect it to be drastically different from what our life is now. I already get to do life with my favourite person.
The difference is that after September 19th, I get to call her my wife instead of my girlfriend or fiancée — and “wife” has a much nicer ring to it.
I’m looking forward to seeing where life takes us, whatever adventures come next, and getting to share those experiences with my favourite person.
And, naturally, I intend to continue supporting Alicia and the business in every way I can.
In fact, over the course of our relationship I believe I have demonstrated the qualities necessary to serve as Alicia’s Official Unpaid Brand Ambassador.
There is, however, one significant gap in my professional development.
I have yet to be issued a company T-shirt.
This is obviously an oversight.
I feel that my ability to provide truly exceptional unpaid promotional services could be substantially enhanced by being entrusted with one of these coveted garments. I would happily wear it in public, around town, on trips, and generally anywhere there is an opportunity for an unsuspecting member of the public to learn about the business.
I would like to stress that I am asking for nothing in return.
Except the T-shirt.
And perhaps the title.
The title is non-negotiable.