My girlfriend and I had just enjoyed a romantic dinner and were chatting about our days when I gazed into her eyes, tried to imagine my life without her, and realized that it was time for me to ask that all important question -- "Have you ever heard of cupcake wedding cakes?"
She gave me the strangest look, probably aware of what I was hinting at and realizing that I had ultimately chickened out. She smiled and lowered her eyes, and I had one of those moments where I just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.
"As a matter of fact, I have heard of cupcake wedding cakes," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
I felt slightly relieved, but knew that I had better come up with something good to explain this one away. I began to tell to her about how I had seen cupcakes used to make birthday cakes and cakes for other celebrations, but wondered if it would be too tacky for a wedding cake.
Cupcake wedding cakes had always looked kind of funny to me, but in a good way, and I imagined that it made it simpler for larger numbers of people to eat because they could just take one off of the holder and have at it. If it were up to me alone, that is what I would have chosen, but the decision was also hers, and that the moment I had regretted even bringing it up.
Not about to let the subject drop, she asked me what made me think about cupcake wedding cakes at that exact moment. My stomach was in knots, because the thought of telling her how I felt, asking her to marry me and getting turned down was more than I could bear, and I was still not sure if I had let our relationship develop to the point where she felt ready for marriage.
"I read an article the other day about cupcake wedding cakes, and just wondered whether or not we should do that when we get married," I blurted out.
She looked at me in stunned disbelief, and I knew that there was no retreat at this point. "Will you marry me?" I asked.
Her eyes brimmed with tears as I pulled the ring from my pocket and got down on one knee. "What was all of this talk of cupcake wedding cakes?" she asked, wiping her cheeks as I placed the ring on her finger. I didn't have an answer and certainly didn't want to push my luck.
In the end, we married in a beautiful ceremony, had a wonderful reception where we danced the night away and, of course, enjoyed a lovely cupcake wedding cake.