Being hockey fans, Vernon couple Noel Laforest and Rachel Bibby bandied about the idea of getting engaged at a Vernon Vipers hockey game.
Laforest made it happen Friday night.
Getting down on bended knee, with the Kiss FM Events Crew microphone live for all 1,837 Kal Tire Place patrons to hear, Laforest proposed to Bibby – who said yes – during the first intermission of the Vipers’ home game against the Trail Smoke Eaters.
“I love hockey, she comes to hockey games and we both support the Vipers,” said Laforest, 27, a DJ who helps look after the three kids the couple share.
“In my mind, I thought ‘what better spot to get engaged, especially when it’s the team you cheer for?’”
Bibby, 24, a stay-at-home mom, once gave back a promise ring from Laforest two months after the couple started dating.
Nearly five years later, family members Ashley Blaney and Wes Stoddart gave Bibby a ride home and mentioned Laforest was there.
They’ve been inseparable ever since.
“Funny thing, he always said ‘I hate Bibby,’ but on the inside, I knew he loved me and he knew that too,’” said Bibby.
Added Laforest: “If it wasn’t for Ashley and Wes, there’s no chance I would have met up with her again.”
Laforest told Bibby he was going to propose at a hockey game. He just never said which one.
He told Bibby he had picked out an engagement ring, but lost the ring under the deck of their home, and that family members had searched under the deck and couldn’t find it.
Bibby, herself, went crawling under the deck.
On Friday – Engagement Day – Laforest had Bibby take their four-month-old daughter, Josie, to get the tickets while he went inside, he said, “to apply for a job.”
What he was doing was asking the Kiss FM Events Crew for their help in pulling off the engagement.
“My body was vibrating today, I was pretty nervous,” said Laforest.
“I had no clue it was going to happen here tonight,” said Bibby.
The couple haven’t set a date for the big day but don’t be surprised if they walk down the aisle at a hockey game.
“She thought that was a good idea,” smiled Laforest.