I love sharing proposal stories, particularly when they’re as unique and special as this one! David clearly put a lot of thought and effort into his proposal idea, which paid off when Jennifer said “yes!”
Please introduce yourselves
David Salomon and Jennifer Tuason
Can you share any significant details of the planning that went into the proposal, the people involved, and any funny stories along with it!
I think it was about a year before the proposal that I came up with the idea. I had tossed around a few other ideas, including putting together a song and dance with friends at a restaurant, but I wanted something that was a little different. I spent a lot of sleepless nights after that trying to figure out how to put a book together and what I should write about.
The idea originally came from when we first began dating. A couple weeks into dating Jen, I had introduced her to a comic book while we were studying. It was her first one ever. She ended up being completely engrossed, and I knew from that moment that she was the girl for me. Since then, she’s bought her own books (she’s more into independent titles than the super hero stuff), and enjoys going to comic conventions with me. I’m a very lucky guy.
Putting the book together was easier than I had thought! I just happened to have made some great friends who are also talented artists and designers (Hamilton Pingol, Randall Trang, Stephanie Lantry, Dave Metran, Israel Escuder and Charles Robinson), and they gladly participated in creating something special. I think the most nerve-wracking part of the book-making for my part was making sure they hit the deadlines, but they really came through for me. While I did the entire script, I worked on the last three pages on my own, which was probably the most difficult part since I hadn’t tried to draw anything since I was 10 years old and drawing Ninja Turtles.
Tell us the story of the proposal itself
I was extremely nervous for the proposal! I spent the whole Christmas party fretting; worrying about what might go wrong: maybe she’d not want to read the book on the spot, or maybe she’d flip through the book and catch the ending before reading the rest. I was very lucky that everything happened so perfectly.
My friends at the party, all of whom already knew would be happening, also really came through for me there, too. I had sent them a very long email with dozens of instructions trying to prepare them for anything that might screw up the proposal (What if she decided not to read it? What if everyone got quiet and she realized something was up?), and they teased me a whole lot afterwards for being such a drill sergeant. It was funny that everyone pulled out their camera phones at the same time to take video of it.
The other thing was that when I ended up reading the book to the entire party, I didn’t bother to mention that the book was only 15 pages long (the book is a whole lot thicker with blank pages!), so there were quite a few people worried I was going to take the entire time reading a hundred pages worth of comic!
Tell us about your wedding plans
While we are both big comic fans, Jen is also a regular gal who loves a pretty wedding with all the traditional trimmings. We’re not trying to have a wedding that looks like a children’s superhero party, but we’ve come up with subtleties here and there to continue with the comic book theme while still letting Jen have the wedding she’s dreamt of. The comic book we created, as you may notice, is very thick and full of blank pages. We are planning on using those blank pages as the guest book for the wedding, and the rest we can use to chronicle The Further Adventures of David and Jennifer!
I want to make sure this is everything she’s ever wanted. My groomsmen are pushing for costumes at the wedding, but that’s just an exercise in futility.
Any additional information that made your day so amazing!
Going into Tiffany & Co. and buying the ring was probably one of the first times I truly felt like an adult. A real man!
Thanks so much for sharing this amazing story with us, David and Jennifer! I wish you all the best for your wedding and your lives together!
