Tavern on The Green

I have my lovely wife, Dara, to thank for tonight's inspiration.  She recently joked about one of the most important nights of my life.  It's probably more amusing from her perspective, but I've got the keyboard for now!

I have a reputation for being frugal.  I'm also a sucker for (almost) anything free.  [Case in point: I just spent every "free" hour of the day today trying to find the best streaming TV provider based on price, quality, channel lineup, promotions, and yes - free swag!  In case you're wondering, we settled on DirecTV Now because they're giving away an Apple TV (Gen 4) if you prepay 3 months...and they offered everything we wanted.]  Back to frugality...

We weren't dating long before my soon-to-be-wife had a full understanding of my knack for seeking deals.  We went to New York City a lot when we were dating.  She had always dreamt of making a life there, and I loved the food.  Oh, the FOOD!  I ate.  She shopped.  We loved every second of it...every time we went.

Our first Tavern dinner

During one of our trips, we had an amazing dinner at Tavern on The Green.  Of course the food was good.  It wasn't amazing, but it was quite good.  It's a pretty famous place, and I think that's what I liked most about it.  They also had an incredible green chandelier in a room that I believe they referred to as the "Green Room".  You can see it over my left shoulder in this photo that we had taken that night.  She, on the other hand, absolutely lit up when we stepped inside.  I could tell it was a really special place for her.
A short time after that trip, I heard from someone else that people who get engaged at the Tavern are given a complimentary cake and photo to commemorate the evening.  I jokingly told Dara that she should pack one of her rings next time we dined there so that we could stage an engagement and enjoy a free dessert with a picture.  She wasn't amused, and I'm not sure I knew at the time that we might actually get engaged there.

A year later, in March of 2007, I planned an unforgettable dinner at the Tavern during one of our trips to the city.  I had a solid plan with the Maitre D'.  I'd propose right after dinner, then we'd have dessert to celebrate.  Our waiter would keep an eye out for my "signal".  It would be perfect!
We ate dinner.  I think.  I was too nervous to remember the food that night.  As the waiter cleared our plates, I knew it was game time.  I hope I told her how beautiful and amazing she is, but I can't remember exactly what I said.  I was too busy playing every possible scenario (except this one) in my head.  This proposal stuff is tough!  It was time.  I knew the waiter would be back any minute.  I had to pull the trigger now.
Just as I swiveled out of my chair to begin my romantic descent to one knee, the waiter appeared at the side of our table like the creepy butler from Mr. Deeds.  He was invading our personal space, but I couldn't put the brakes on.  I was already committed, and she looked confused.  I slithered out of my chair, trying to fit in the 6" space between him and the table, all while doing my best to keep eye contact with Dara.  The waiter got the message and quickly disapparated.  I popped the question.  Dara looked mortified.  Why?  How is she not excited?  I see clenched teeth, and there seem to be words coming out of them.  It sounds like she's alternating "Get up" with something that ended in "embarrassing me".  Maybe she didn't hear me.  I said the words again: "Will you marry me?"  And then I remembered the ring.  Get the ring out, you moron!  I pulled the ring out and it clearly made things more real for her.  The waiter is back.  For the love of God, why is the waiter here again?  I still don't have an answer.  What's happening right now?  I followed-up with a quasi-desperate "So...will you?".
Finally, she snapped out of it, assessed what was really happening, and said "Yes!".  I think there was applause.  There was definitely kissing.  We were getting married!

That night, Dara learned that my frugality had limits.  She learned that I wouldn't stage a fake engagement for a cake and a free photo.  In fact, we had to settle for taking our own photo when we returned to the hotel that night.  I think I even paid for the cake.
It was PERFECT!

[Jan. 3 Update] Dara added a few things that I thought warranted an update:
"You forgot the 10 trips to the men's room during dinner that left me wondering if you had some kind of UTI, The fact that you never really ate the dinner (I guess due to nerves?), and and the crazy maitre d that brought me a wonderful looking cake all to rip it away from the table because you hadn't returned from your 11th trip to the bathroom yet. After our kiss (once I finally knew what was going on), the words out of your mouth were, (instead of I'm so happy or thank you for loving me) 'was anybody watching?' 'Did anybody clap?' No darling, it's just us. No freebies this time!
Actually, thinking more clearly.... I never said yes. I was too interested in checking out the ring because it wasn't the ring I had picked out.
I left you hanging and you actually had to snap me out of it after I was trying the ring on and ask, "so does this mean yes?"