Austin native’s engagement a finalist in story contest
Published 5:52 am Monday, June 7, 2010
When Carissa Wyant’s boyfriend took her out for drinks at Minneapolis’ Nicollet Island Inn last Valentine’s Day, followed by a romantic horse drawn carriage ride through the city’s center — she was just miffed, to use her words.
Wyant, 30, expected to find her boyfriend, Lex Jensen, 35, down on one knee holding out a diamond at some point in the evening. Instead, Wyant, originally of Austin, went to her Minneapolis home that night with no ring, and no perfectly romantic proposal story.
Wyant always dreamt of getting engaged on Valentine’s Day, and she thought that Lex, whom she met two years earlier on a blind date, would surely pop the question amidst the whimsical, snowy city skyline that evening.
But it wasn’t to be.
The next day, after catching the movie “Wolfman” and dining at Arby’s, the two went for a walk and Jensen, originally of Norway, proposed.
To his credit, Jensen planned to propose on Feb. 14 but the ring was not ready. So, in an effort to make President’s Day the new Valentine’s Day, Jensen proposed on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge on Feb. 15, in the exact spot where he first told Wyant he loved her two years prior.
“It’s not so romantic, I guess. It’s just a comedy of errors,” Wyant said.
Romance or comedy, their story has been pitted against a Christmas Eve proposal in Guatemala and a whirlwind proposal on a Florida beach.
Wyant and Jensen’s is one of three proposal stories that Mpls. St. Paul Magazine has selected as finalists in an engagement party cruise contest. It is now up to the public to vote for their favorite story. The top couple will win a chartered lunch cruise by Al & Alma’s Charter Cruises for themselves and 18 of their guests on Lake Minnetonka.
“A friend of mine saw the contest and convinced me to enter,” Wyant said. “I might be biased, but I do think ours is the funniest. The other two might be cuter or more romantic, but ours makes us laugh.”
Voting takes place at www.mspmag.com through June 11.
Wyant and Jensen are in the early stages of planning a wedding abroad in Greece or Italy.
