Winnipegger Mike Duerksen live-tweets proposal to girlfriend
Mike Duerksen proposed to his girlfriend, Janelle Freed, this weekend following a 12-hour, play-by-play, minute-by-minute live-tweeting of the elaborate date that would culminate with the proposal.
Using the hashtag #MikeProposes, Duerksen had thousands of his Twitter followers waiting to hear if Freed would say yes. She did.
On Friday, Duerksen announced on Twitter that he was going to take Freed on eight mini-dates, to eight significant places in their relationship, which would conclude with a marriage proposal.
Tomorrow I'm proposing to my girlfriend. I'll be using the hashtag #MikeProposes. Follow along! #Winnipeg
— Mike Duerksen (@mikeduerksen) April 13, 2012
Related: Man proposes to girlfriend through infographic
He assured followers, family and friends that Freed was not on Twitter and she was leaving her phone at home.
"I wanted to let them in on the big day, and use it as experiment, to see what happens. I didn't know what to expect, and it just took on a life of its own," Duerksen tells ABC News.
"I expected friends and maybe some people in the city to follow along, but I started getting tweets from all over the world. I got so much support and positive tweets sent my way, halfway through the date I was starting to really feel the pressure!"
Related: PowerPoint presentation dating at 'Me So Far'
At one point, Freed asked her boyfriend to put his phone away — it was supposed to be a romantic day for two, after all — but Duerksen managed to keep tweeting undercover.
By 8:30 on Friday night, Duerksen and Freed were sitting around a campfire, recreating their first date. Duerksen tweeted his final pre-proposal tweet:
About to tell her a story: Our story. It ends with a question. Here I go. #MikeProposes — Mike Duerksen (@mikeduerksen) April 14, 2012
Sixteen minutes later, with Freed let in on the scheme, Duerksen updated everyone:
Folks, she said yes! #MikeProposes
— Mike Duerksen (@mikeduerksen) April 14, 2012
The Daily Mail called the tweeted proposal "the death of romance." Duerksen responded to the criticism in typical fashion, on Twitter:
@erik_thomas Ha, the death of romance? I took her on 8 dates in 12 hours, gave her 8 cards w/ a pic/memory/wish and 3 gifts ;-) #Brits — Mike Duerksen (@mikeduerksen) April 17, 2012
The couple plans to wed in October.
See the video below where newly weds get advice about fighting fair from the host of "Let's Talk About Love"