Date: Sept 26
Her story: Christianna Harding is an interior designer and Southwest Airlines flight attendant. She moved to Annapolis in 2009 from Nashville, Tenn. Her parents, Brooks and Rhonda Heimer, live in Las Vegas.
His story: David Mackenzie is from Toronto and moved to Annapolis in 2004. He is director of operations at Accenture, a consulting, technology and outsourcing company.
Their story: The couple met in 2009 at Pusser's Caribbean Grille in Annapolis.
Dave had his boat docked there, and his Canadian friends were in town. Christianna, who had just moved to Annapolis, had never been on a boat. Dave allowed Christianna aboard despite the fact that she was wearing 4-inch heels — a nautical no-no.
The two appeared to hit it off, Christianna said. She gave him her number.
"To be quite honest, I was like 'Thank God. Finally a tall man," Christianna said. "I am [5-foot-9] and I have a propensity for wearing high heels. Unfortunately, that can be a problem. I was attracted to him immediately."
But six months went by with no phone call, until the two crossed paths again and realized that their signals got crossed.
"He thought I was brushing him off," she said. "I was trying to be slightly coy. We misfired. We both realized that we wanted to date each other."
The two now live in Severna Park with their two Scottish terriers.
The proposal: On May 16, Dave planned an elaborate proposal during the beginning of a business trip to Dublin.
He told Christianna that he had to test a team-building activity that involved an iPad-directed scavenger hunt around the city.
Unknown to Christianna, Dave hired photographers and videographers to follow the couple around. Clues led them to a gazebo in Dublin's St. Stephen's Green park. There, musicians hired by Dave encouraged Christianna to join them in singing "Marry Me" by Train.
Christianna didn't get the hint until Dave got down on one knee and gave her a treasure chest to open. The chest contained the ring.
"Honestly, I was so surprised," she said. "I had no idea. Even though he had the musicians playing 'Marry Me,' I didn't see it coming. I'm pretty hard to surprise. He totally surprised me."
The proposal was filmed and produced by Birds of a Feather Weddings in Dublin.
The venue: One hundred and forty-five guests attended the surprise, flash mob-style wedding in the couple's backyard.
"We did not tell one single local friend that we were engaged, so that they would not suspect that we would be getting married," Christianna said.
Instead, Christianna and Dave told guests that HGTV was coming to film a segment on backyard transformations during the couple's annual tapas party. Everyone was told to wear white.
An hour into the party, Irish bagpipers and a drummer marched into the yard. As they distracted guests at one end of the yard, a screen came down and a stage was set up at the other end. The proposal video began to play.
The DJ then started playing "We Found Love" by Rihanna, and the stunned guests watched as a troupe of flash-mob dancers broke into a routine.
The couple, who had slipped away and changed into their wedding clothes, then took the stage.
Decor and flowers: Severna Flowers and Gifts prepared the floral arrangements, which included clippings of flowers and foliage from the couple's backyard.
Bride's attire: Christianna wore three dresses. She started the evening in a coral BCBG gown before the guests knew it was a wedding. She changed into a Galina Signature two-piece, cropped-top bridal gown, and ended the evening in a Halston Heritage gown for dancing.
The music: DJ Gus Martinez entertained the guests. The couple's first dance was to "Holding Out for a Hero" by Ella Mae Bowen.
Food and dessert: Catering was provided by Ken's Creative Kitchen. The couple served an assortment of tapas, paella, grilled vegetables, Valencia salad, red and white sangria, and Spanish wines and beers.
The three-tier cake (tiramisu, chocolate and vanilla) was prepared by Fiona's Cakes in Severna Park.
Special touches: The couple went to Italy for three weeks for their honeymoon.
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Christianna's bridesmaid was Tian Carney, her "little sister" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.
