This is where I have to backtrack to the 2019 MNSSHP. The Disney costume we selected for 2019 was from Aladdin. He decided to be Prince Ali, from the 90s cartoon movie, and since I am definitely not the Princess Jasmine type (and I like to think I have a sense of humor), I decided to be the rug. I scoured the internet for ideas of how to make the rug happen.

It seemed like every Aladdin rug costume included someone in a curtain rod. They didn’t look comfortable at all. Plus, I wasn’t supposed to be a Carol Burnett as Scarlett O’Hara knock off. In the end we both agreed that the design they used for the costume in the stage play was the best idea. We called around to different printers in our area, and checked the internet to see if anyone could print out the design of the rug on fabric for us. They can, but the cost was astronomical. What we did find though is that Hot Topic sells a queen size bedspread with the design, and it was on sale!

We decided to cut the design from the bedspread and reattach it to a piece of fabric that would fit over my body. Then I would wear a purple body suit underneath. This took a lot longer than we anticipated and we were sewing and ironing our costumes together, literally, until we left for the party. Cutting out the intricate pattern right to the edges. Using my serger to make the ends neater. Deciding to use heat n bond rather than sew the whole thing (it was huge!)

For his costume I actually tracked down a pattern from Butterick made in the 90s for a Prince Ali costume in his size. I made trials of his pants several times for two reasons. A: The first one never turns out the way you want, and you learn a lot from doing it. And B: he wanted to add pockets since he would need to carry around his wallet, keys and phone. I’ve done pockets before, but I wasn’t just going to wing that. If you don’t do it right your stuff falls out because the angle is off or they’re not deep enough. Plus, he was insisting as usual that his costume had to look “Just right” and “Luxe, like a prince would wear.”

Serious eye rolling here. But he’s right. Within the constraints of our budget, we always do try to make things look more real than just grabbing something off of a store shelf. So, he picked out a very thin, polyester, linen-like fabric that was just the right color and texture.

I hated this stuff. The problem with it was it frayed like crazy. Even with my serger I knew the possibility of ripping it was huge. I re-sewed his inner leg seams at least three times for stability. He still wore white shorts underneath in case it did rip. Eventually the pocket did rip on the inside away from the pants, but it held that night which was all I cared about at the time.

All of this work and attention to detail was worthwhile in the end. It always is, we work very hard to make sure our costumes look good. However, this night what I had no idea of was that he plan to propose to me in front of the castle! He had hired a photographer to meet us when we arrived at the party. What I also didn’t know was that we ended up an hour late for it.

Every year we are super late to the party. They start at 7pm, but you can go in as early as 4pm. We almost always show up around 8pm. He kept saying he wanted us to get there early this year, and he was adamant about it. “I want daylight pictures of our costumes. We never have any of those. We waste so much time where we could be in the park already.” I should have known then something was up.

I was miffed at the time getting ready because we’d spent all night the night before working on the costumes to finish up (I even drove over at 2am to get us Wendy’s to snack on.) After spending the early afternoon at a park, we came back and finished the odds and ends still left. In his case the hat wasn’t quite finished, and I was hand sewing it to add the right shape and décor.

About 5pm he hopped in the shower, and I continued to finish up the hat. I finally got to get ready around 6pm. By now we were late, but I had no idea. As I was doing my hair and makeup, he came in to see how I was doing. “You almost done?” He asked very excited and upbeat, but at the time I was irritated. “No.” I practically growled. “Ok. Ok.” He said backing out of the bathroom. I hated feeling pressured when he’d been able to take his time and shower and get dressed without someone breathing down his neck.

We left close to 6:45 and headed over. Still early for us. I was double checking to make sure we had everything with us. I asked him if he’d remembered the lamp, which we’d purchased online to complete his ensemble. He said, “I think I put it on the back seat.” So, I checked. Nope. He seemed slightly panicky as he said, “Check around I’m sure I grabbed it.” After digging around on the floor, I came up with it.

We pulled into the parking lot, and he helped rope me into the costume. To make it look like I had tassels for hands and feel we actually tied big pieces of gold curtain rope around my ankles, and I had attached actual tassels to a pair of purple gloves.

He raced us, literally raced us, into the park. “Hurry, hurry, before we don’t have any light left.” He was insisting we get to the castle for shots while it was light out. When we got there, I stopped in the main hub area thinking we were going to stop and use the Disney photo pass like we usually did. “No, no, I want to get in closer.” He kept saying. I followed behind him as he waded through the huge crowd that had gathered for the first stage show of the night.

He dragged us all the way up to the front and handed his phone to someone and asked if they would take our picture. I posed and smiled big. The guy took our picture and handed the phone back to Scott. As he turned back to me, he dropped down to one knee with the lamp held out. He opened the lid and nestled inside was a ring.

It was pretty loud that close to the hundred or so people who were gathered up against the stage there, but I clearly heard him say will you marry me. I realized then that the guy he had originally handed his phone to was now snapping photos of us with a real camera. A bunch of nearby people started clapping when they realized what was going on. I am certain I said out loud “Are you serious right now?” Before clapping my hands over my face.

All I could do was nod, and the next thing I knew Scott had helped me pull off my glove and placed the ring on my finger. The crowd went wild.

Later, Scott said to me he wished we’d been on time because had he known he was going to have an audience he would have tried harder to get us there sooner. I agree with him on that a little because I am an ugly crier. I’ve seen the photos. Not pretty.

Apparently, Scott’s master plan was to have the photographer there to capture the moment and then escort us around the park for photos meant to be our engagement pictures. To this day I am glad that I was that irritated at the hotel room that I made sure my hair and makeup was perfect. I told him later that had I not been able to finish we would have been retaking those photos. As it was they turned out great.

I’ve said before the Halloween parties only last so long but this night seemed to fly between the pictures with the photographer, calling family and friends to let them know, trying to get to all the tasty party only treats, and more pictures with the cast of Aladdin, who were one of the many photo ops that night. We got great shots with Jafar, Genie, and Jasmine!

Unknown to us then, but making it a little more special now, this was the last official Halloween party until 2022. Six months from then would bring the pandemic, and no party for 2020 or 2021.