Go Directly To The Chapel, Do Not Pass Go
I don't know about you, but I'm always a sucker for a good love story. Every couple has a story, and it always fascinates me to hear about how a couple met, and then, if they are married, how they got engaged. Well, I have to say that the proposal story behind Justin Lebon and his fiancé, Michal Ott, is hard to top!
One of Justin and Michal's favorite things to do was to stay in and play a game or two of Monopoly. The couple played on a board that Justin had made in high school and so the boardgame had taken on a sentimental value to them. With Christmas approaching, Justin decided the perfect gift for Michal would be a new board, customized with memories celebrating their relationship. And while he was at it, he decided this would also be the perfect way to propose to the love of his life.
Justin went to work on designing and creating all of the properties and cards. All of the properties were named after places and memories special to the couple — streets where they'd grown up, favorite vacation destinations, etc.
The game board itself would also require some special planning in order to pull off his master plan. Justin says,
"The first thing I knew was that I could do something with the engagement ring and the luxury tax spot. I wanted to figure out how to make some kind of trap door underneath it. . ."
Justin just so happened to be friends with the talented woodwork, Mark Becker, who runs the Esty shop, Old Redwood. And so, Justin put him in charge of building the game board, which he completed in a little over three weeks.
Mark used wood from an early 1900's icebox to build the board. The finished product was beautiful, and Justin completed the set with his customized cards and then vintage money and golden game pieces he'd scored by scouring different thrift shops.
With everything complete, it was now time to pull off this amazing proposal!
The engagement ring had been hidden in a trap door beneath the Luxury Tax space.
To get to the Luxury Tax space, Michal would first have to land on Chance and draw the special Chance card Justin had created and placed at the top of the deck.
To be sure that Michal rolled the number of spots needed to land on Chance, Justin loaded the dice.
With the stage set, Justin presented Michal with the gift. She was blown away. Justin walked her through the whole design of the board (leaving out any spoilers to the upcoming surprise, of course), and by the end, both were crying.
It was then that Michal suggested they play the game. She rolled the dice, and moved 7 spaces to Chance. As she read the card Justin had made just for her, Justin got down on one knee and pulled the wire key designed to open the trap door and reveal the ring.
And in case you had any doubts, Michal said "yes!"
Credit: Justin Lebon
The couple is planning a destination wedding at one of their favorite vacation spots – Maui. Congrats, and prayers that God will bless their marriage!
If you liked this story, just wait until you hear how disaster struck right as this man proposed!
Credit: BuzzFeed
Featured Image Credit: Facebook