She said Yes! Los Lunas duo engaged at Wrigley Field

It turned out to be the perfect wedding proposal, checking all the boxes. It was a surprise. The perfect location. Loved ones all around. And, she said “yes.”

However, getting to the perfect proposal was stressful and chaotic.

Nick Gaerlan and Preslee Aragon, both from Los Lunas, were drawn to each other through sports, so it was natural that they would click.

Gaerlan, a 2019 Los Lunas High School graduate, was an outstanding football and basketball player for the Tigers and is now an assistant hoop coach at LLHS.

Aragon attended Valencia across the river, playing volleyball and softball. After graduating in 2016, Aragon spent time coaching both sports.

The couple had been dating for just over a year when Gaerlan started thinking about popping the question. Coincidently, the two had just booked a trip to Chicago to see the Cubs play the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field in early September.

“That’s when it snapped,” said Gaerlan. “That would be a perfect place to do it. That’s her favorite place and everything.”

Wrigley Field, her favorite place?

“My dad is a huge Cubs fan,” said Aragon. “That’s how I was raised.”

So, the wheels were set in motion. Gaerlan leaned on his sister, Sanae Hathoot, to do much of the planning. She reached out to the Cubs, and eventually the plot was hatched.

Only a trusted few were let in on the classified information, leaving Aragon’s parents out of the loop until shortly before flying out.

“He knew he couldn’t tell them too far in advance because I would find out,” Aragon said. “They’re not good at keeping secrets.”

As the plane landed in the Windy City, nerves started to get the best of Gaerlan.

“She was making fun of me because I usually like to eat. I didn’t eat anything,” Gaerlan said.

The lack of appetite and his interest in the details of the trip were unusual.

“Umm, that’s weird,” Aragon thought. “I had a suspicion, but I didn’t know what it was. I just knew he was being weird.”

Finally, it was game time, or better yet — showtime. A sellout crowd of more than 40,000 fans was on hand, enjoying a crisp, late summer afternoon. Unfortunately, there wouldn’t be much to cheer about as far as the game, with the Cubbies losing 2-0. Still, there would be much drama.

The engagement ring was held by Gaerlan’s mother, Jennifer, who was sitting in a section well above the couple. Shortly before the big event, complete with a scheduled announcement revealed on the Wrigley Field video board, Gaerlan climbed the aisle to get the ring.

“Oh, my goodness, walking up the steps I felt like I was going to faint,” Gaerlan recalled.

The ring was in such a big box, it barely fit in the pocket of the gym shorts Gaerlan was wearing.

“It was hard to hide. She’s like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’”

Think fast.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my hands are cold.’ I was trying to hide it in my pocket,” Gaerlan recalled.

Aragon remembers thinking it was all “strange” and “weird.” Those feelings continued as Preslee and the entourage were encouraged to move closer to the field between the fifth and six innings, when the video screen was scheduled to pop the question.

Instead of the proposal, a seemingly endless stream of happy birthday wishes for fans was scrolling on the board.

“It was a fiasco at first,” said Gaerlan. “I was just kind of playing dumb, telling her to look at the board.”

Her response, “What am I even looking at?”

Finally, the name “Preslee” made its appearance in big letters.

“Why is my name on the screen,” Aragon wondered, not seeing that at the top it said, “Will you marry me?”

As she turned around, Gaerlan was on one knee, with the ring.

“I don’t even know if I said yes,” Aragon said. “I hugged him and kissed him,” signaling the answer to the question was in the affirmative.

“All of a sudden, I realized that everyone was standing up and cheering. I had blocked out all the noise — people all around were saying, ‘oh my gosh, that’s so cool.’”

This attention-getting proposal was risky because of what Aragon had told Gaerlan after the two started getting serious.

“If you ever propose to me, it better not be in front of people. Just me and you,” was her order. Risky, but worth it.

“I think it is like one of the coolest stories I’ll ever be able to tell,” said Aragon. “There was so much significance. My dad got to be there. His (Gaelan’s) family was there. I’m a huge Cubs fan, a sold-out Yankee game. It was just the coolest experience.”

No wedding date has been set, but the couple is considering a destination wedding. Some say Chicago’s Soldier Field, home of the Bears, is lovely this time of year.