Regina man invites 50 friends, family to Costco to witness engagement proposal to girlfriend
Tim Bamford decided the pandemic was not going to stop him from including the couple's loved ones
Costco may not seem like the obvious choice for an engagement proposal. But one Regina man decided it was the perfect place to propose to his girlfriend, while also including the people they love in the special moment.
The pandemic has changed the way people do a lot of things, including weddings, as restrictions have meant no large gatherings and limited interaction.
Tim Bamford says he has been trying to talk his girlfriend, Amanda Anderson, into proposing to him for a long time. The couple met on a baseball team through mutual friends in 2019.
"I posted on Facebook that our ball team needed a girl, and one of our friends tagged her in the post and she joined our team. And the rest is history," he said.
Bamford said the whole engagement scenario originally started off as a less serious proposal between him and Anderson's doula, when Anderson was in labour with their daughter two months ago.
"It started off as actually a joke about us actually getting married at Costco. And why wouldn't we? They have all the food. They have a liquor store there ... they also have lots of flowers," Bamford said.
"When we got home from the hospital I started thinking more and more about it. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized Costco is not a terrible idea because our friends and our family means so much to us. It'd be nice to have them all involved."
WATCH | Tim Bamford's proposal at a Regina Costco:
So Bamford pitched the idea to people. Some thought it was weird, while others thought it was hilarious and special.
"But the consensus was that everybody was in, and they were all-in on me proposing to Amanda and making this a memorable event."
Surprise engagement
Bamford then called the manager of the Regina Costco, who agreed to the engagement setup — even promising to close down the tills near where Bamford would propose to Anderson on May 25, the second anniversary of when they started dating.
When the special evening finally came, Bamford entrusted his oldest daughter with the ring. He packed up the car and took the family to Costco for what Amanda thought would be a typical shopping trip.
At the store were 50 of their family and friends. But Anderson says she did not suspect a thing.
"When we got there ... we saw his parents actually and his grandmother," Anderson said. "And I didn't really think much of it because I know they have a Costco membership and that's where they shop."
Some of their friends were dressed to remain incognito.
"My sister, she had sunglasses on, a mask, and her hood pulled up," said Bamford.
"She actually walked past and shoulder bumped Amanda. And Amanda looked at me and she was like, 'That was your sister!' And I was like, 'no, no, it couldn't be. She doesn't have a Costco card!''"
Finally, the clock hit 7 p.m. — engagement time.
Bamford signaled to his 10-year-old daughter, who handed him the ring,
"Amanda's like, 'It's so crazy that all of our friends are here!' And I just said, 'Well, I invited them here.' And she looked at me and she's like, 'Why would you do that?'
"And then I got down on one knee and I said … 'I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. And I wanted everybody that we care about to be here, to be part of that.'"
Of course, Anderson said yes.
"I was just in disbelief. And I looked around and started recognizing those people that were in masks and hats.... That was pretty amazing," said Anderson.
"I was very happy. And if you know Tim ... then it's a very Tim thing to do."
Since the engagement, the couple have had an outpouring of love from both friends and strangers.
So has Anderson started planning the wedding yet?
"Well, I'm a woman, so yeah, I have my Pinterest board," Anderson said.
"But no. I think we want to wait till these restrictions lift and we can actually invite everyone that we want to invite."
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