Hiding behind a giant fairy and dressed in a prince’s costume, Cory Correia was preparing for one of the biggest moments of his life.
Playing an apparently impromptu role in Friday’s Steveston Salmon Festival parade, Correia anxiously awaited his cue of the “king” making a proclamation to Correia’s unsuspecting girlfriend, Charisse Fernandes, that she was a princess who needed a prince to help her rule her realm.
However, as the parade edged closer to where Correia’s girlfriend and their family and friends stood watching the Canada Day festivities, more than a month of planning a fairy-tale marriage proposal almost came unstuck.
As the king duly burst into his aforementioned verse, which beckoned Fernandes, 26, from the crowd, the princess refused to come out of the shadows.
And only after being physically pushed into the fray by her friends and family, did the woman Correia, 29, hoped would be his wife come forward.
“The king asked her to kneel before him and he bestowed on her a tiara and made her a princess of the realm, but that she needed a prince,” said Steveston-raised Correia, who has known Fernandes since he was seven-years-old.
“I appeared with the ring and only then did it become clear to her what might be happening.
“I said a few things, none of which either of us can remember. I proposed, she said yes, I gave her a hug and a kiss and there was a big cheer. I then asked her if she wanted to continue down the parade route. After all, I had the costume, I thought I might as well get the most out of it. She agreed.”
Moments earlier, Correia, a CBC video journalist, got the call from a friend that his part of the parade was getting close.
He then excused himself to go to the washroom, but instead dashed to the parade marshal’s home nearby to frantically change into his costume before slipping into the Times Past Entertainment’s section of the parade.
“I had reached out to the organizer of the parade and we went back and forth with ideas about how to make this happen,” said Correia of the plan.
“Charisse had no idea. A few of our friends and family knew, the ones we could trust. And I asked her parents for their blessing the night before.
“We were standing on the parade route with our families and friends, just like we do every year. I grew up going to the parade and Salmon Festival and have volunteered at it, so this was all normal.”
Correia said he couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of Bill DiPasquale and Janice Froese, of the Steveston Salmon Festival parade, and Christina Carr, of Times Past Entertainment.
The couple, who have been dating for more than seven years, have already set a date: July 15, 2017.
The End.
