Even though the wedding date’s not set yet, you can tell that Linnea Rivard and Michael Balda’s upcoming nuptials aren’t necessarily all that traditional.
For starters, the happy couple met at an online matchmaking site. They didn’t even get to go out alone on their first date (she brought a friend along, just to be sure). And after a few short months of courtship, she proposed marriage to him.
On Stormy Kromer’s Facebook page, no less.
“We met in September, and a month later he was bugging me with ‘When are you going to ask me to marry you?’” said Linnea, a bartender in Wisconsin Rapids. “When I told his mom, she looked me in the eye and said “He loves you and wants to marry you. He’s just scared to ask.”
Not too timid to take matters into her own hands, Linnea put a plan in motion.
Michael, who’s working toward his Master’s degree in Project Management, was heading to Florida for an extended stay, but before he left, Linnea made sure his favorite Kromer cap stayed home.
“It was weird, but before my trip, she wanted to know what caps I was bringing with me,” said Michael. “I’ve got 15 or so, and I did bring a couple of the cotton ones to Florida, but I couldn’t figure out why she cared. Then I saw her Facebook post.”
Posed in her boyfriend’s best Kromer Original, Linnea popped the question “Marry me?” in a picture presented for the whole world to see. And let’s just say Michael wasn’t the first to see it.
“Some other guy beat me to it,” said Michael. “One of the posts said ‘If he says no, I’m saying yes.’ Really, though, there was only one answer for me. She was wearing my favorite cap; it was awesome. I had to say yes.”
We couldn’t be happier for the Kromer-loving couple, and we’ll keep you up to date on their wedding plans. We thought you should also know, however, that they’re not the first to be wedded with our caps.
In 1946, Bernard Kolesar (you may remember him as one of our Living Legend finalists) proposed to Zella in his Stormy Kromer. She said yes, and the rest is history.
This has to be one of the best lookin’ wedding parties we’ve ever seen.
Are there other Kromer wedding stories we need to know about?
Reader interactions
3 Replies to “How Does a Guy Say No To This?”
I just ordered two hats for my soulmate after 1 marriage and a divorce we have 2 boys teenagers and 2 girls teenagers. I want to propose to him with the hat. Is that unique? Any tips. We met in San Diego by Chance on a business trip . I’m from Illinois and he is from Minnesota. I want him to know I love him and I’m committed but be independent and bad ass as well as he is! I’m an Er Nurse and he is the head of training of a local union.
We’re certainly not relationship experts, lol, but yes we think proposing with the hat in some way is unique! Keep us posted and good luck!
Any tips? Comments and recommendations? This is new to me and I’m a trailblazer.