Marrying Man of September 2006: A Stormy Romance

Groomsmen gifts of umbrellas, anyone? To say the proposal of Mr. September's Reed Smith got off to a stormy start is an understatement. After a romantic night of cocktails and dancing, Smith dropped to his knees, pulled out his great-grandmother's ring, and proposed to his ten-month girlfriend Christine at midnight that night. The bride gleefully accepted.

Little did the New Orleans couple know that night would be the eve of Hurricane Katrina, the cataclysmic natural disaster that would set off a chain of events the couple would later refer to laughingly as their "evacuation engagement." Giving fresh meaning to the phrase "for better or for worse," the newly-engaged couple fled their hometown the very next day and took up temporary residence as hurricane refugees in Dallas, Texas. Breaking the news of their engagement to their fellow evacuees (26 relatives and friends, a bulldog and one loyal Yorkie) from the cramped confines of Dallas's Homesuites was hardly the engagement party the couple had pictured, but they were just happy to be together. Despite the horrific footage of their hometown's devastation in the background, the Smiths' engagement helped to bring a little calm to the storm.

Reed's mother Elizabeth weighed in, saying "I knew he was going to ask, but I didn't dream it would be the night before a hurricane," she said. "But everything happened perfectly." Christine's mother echoed the sentiment saying the engagement was "a ray of hope" in the midst of stormy circumstances.

As for the happy couple, they are putting the devastation behind them as they recently tied the knot and, after a romantic European honeymoon, returned to their hometown where Mr. Smith works as a law professor at Tulane University.

When asked about what they brought with them during their fast-flee from Katrina's destruction, the Smiths answered, "jewelry and guitars." Why not add to their collection with these snazzy knot and bead bracelets?!

Submit your proposal for a chance to win the Marrying Man of the Month title, or some groovy prizes just for entering!