Complete, First-hand Account of the Apple Store Proposal

Remember James, the plucky Apple fan who held up a series of signs to propose to his girlfriend Uschi through the company's time-lapse camera at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store?

If you hadn't seen in the comments on that post, Uschi said, indeed, say yes. We're now proud to present, in Cult-o-Vision, the complete story, as told by each participant. It's extra-long, so click through for the full story and more photos.

Let's start with James's side of the story, beginning with mushy and Mac-y side of the equation:

The day prior to my proposal, we went to the 6 p.m. Apple Store opening and stood in line for hours. That's when I first saw the time-lapse camera. Uschi didn't notice the camera at all, but the proposal idea started to brew in my head while we were in line. We had lots of time on our hands, and I pretty much conjured up the whole plan while we were in line.

Like most guys, I was under a lot of unspoken pressure to propose in a very special way. I wanted nothing less than the most unique, timeless, and surprising proposal. It didn't take long for me to figure, "Hey, here's this camera that's broadcasting to the world." I decided proposing in front of it would have all those elements… Not to mention it'd be in front of my favorite store, no less. We came home from the grand opening about 10pm. I couldn't sleep that whole night. Since I actually came up with a plan, I became a little nervous.

Later that night, around 4:30 a.m., I snuck out of bed without her noticing and went down to the store again with a marker and some poster papers and "proposed" to the love of my life. In retrospect, it was surreal... one of those crazy, impulsive, aneurysmal things... I certainly didn't know it would get out of hand and be all over the Internet like this. At first, I didn't even think anyone would see it. In fact, shortly after I did it, I actually wondered whether this was the best proposal. I thought it wasn't as romantic as a proposal under a beautiful sunset on white sandy beach, etc. especially since I'm from Hawaii. This felt like a proposal in a stadium or on a sign in Times Square, which are fancy but not our style.

But in the end, I went with my gut feeling and decided I would do it. I instilled my own version of romance into it and proposed to her with candlelights leading to my Mac in my apartment. I was on bended knee next to her, ring in my hand…there were tears, there was laughter, there was my G5. It was awesome!

"There were tears, there was laughter, there was my G5." Words to live by, my friends. But how can this feat be replicated? Much more simply than you might expect.

I had figured out that each hour of Apple's time-lapse videos were 30 seconds long, each second was probably a minute in real time, so that meant it was probably taking fast-forward span of 30 minutes spread across the hour, each individual shot approximately 2 minutes apart. In the end, I stood there for about 15 minutes, holding each sign for about 5 minutes to ensure it'll get at least 2 frames per poster.

A technical masterpiece, no question. But how was it received? About as well as it possibly could be. Geek love is very special love. Just ask Uschi.

We have been together for almost 4 years now, and I have been waiting for his proposal since last Christmas when he had "a talk" with my dad. I was expecting the proposal to be incredibly romantic, just knowing his style. I should have suspected it would involve a Mac, since I know that is his SECOND love.

On May 22nd at 11:30 p.m.,

I just want to break in here quickly to clarify that, yes, James's proposal appeared on this blog about 60 hours before Uschi got to see it. That Internet, folks... Now, back to Uschi's account already in progress.

he set up his apartment in a romantic trail of candles leading up to his G5 Apple computer, where he had me watch the video online for the first time. I couldn't believe what I was seeing at first, and I was speechless with disbelief at seeing him on the computer and secondly at what the signs said. I had thought endlessly about what it would feel like to have James propose to me and about "officially" starting our life together. He is the sweetest, most adventurous, loving man, and I've always felt so lucky to have him in my life. We have been through so much together since college and most of medical school now, and when I reflect on how amazing a match he is for me, it all seems so unreal.

In that moment when he was bent down on one knee, it brought that all rushing back, and I couldn't believe it was actually happening. Those thoughts lasted a few seconds, and then, of course, I said yes! An added bonus is knowing that I can tell anyone I know to go to Apple's homepage so they can instantly see my wedding proposal for themselves. It is like having the most unique, glamorous, and timeless proposal, with the whole world as our witness. I can't wait to say iDo!

After reading that, I think the whole world is ready to say iDo. Thanks so much for letting us behind the scenes, guys. And let us know when the wedding is!