Surprise Marriage Proposal at Battleground Country Club

The rabbits have reemerged from their winter nests. Bursting buds hang heavy on the bough. Songbirds trill a lover’s duet.

Spring has returned and, with it, the unmistakable scent of romance. It mingles in the air with fresh gusts of lilac and honeysuckle, and its pungent aroma wafted through the corridors of the Battleground Country Club (BCC) on April 27, where Hamilton Township resident Chris Rios surprised his girlfriend Jasmine Segui with a marriage proposal.

The proposal was made at a bridal show held in the Grande Ballroom of the BCC. Lisa Drozd, the owner of American Bridal Show Co., organized the event, which hosted over two dozen vendors and 150 attendees, many of whom were brides-to-be.

While Segui mingled with the other guests, perusing the vendors’ booths for deals on wedding services and enjoying live entertainment courtesy of Versatile Professional Entertainment, Rios waited in the kitchen until his big moment. For a man about to put himself on the line, he came across as calm and collected.

“She thinks I’m at Red Lobster with my father right now,” he said with a chuckle.

Rios and Segui have known each other for almost ten years. They met as freshman at Hamilton High School, but were not romantically involved at the time.

After graduation, Rios enlisted in the Navy and served aboard the USS Ramage out of Norfolk, VA. His duty involved deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, where the Ramage patrolled for pirates and illegal drug operations. He worked as an air traffic controller and part of a security team.

“It was a good four years,” Rios said of his time on duty. “I got to travel the world. After a while though, you want to get back. I’ve only had one Christmas with the family in all that time. That kind of thing sways you.”

When he returned to Virginia, Rios reconnected with Segui through the social networking website Myspace.com.

“When I returned, we met up, went to a movie, and the next thing you know we were dating,” Rios said.

Since January, Rios has been on Active Reserve for the Navy out of Fort Dix. He graduated from the Bergen County Police Academy last December and hopes to start a career in law enforcement soon.

“I’m certified, now I just need to find a station that’s hiring,” Rios said.

Despite uncertainty as to when his career will begin, he felt it was the right time to pop the question. He only needed a clue as to where.  

“When I found out she was going to a bridal expo in Manalapan, I realized that would be the perfect opportunity,” said Rios. “It would be awesome for her to find out she was going to be a bride in front of all the other brides. I made some phone calls and everything went through.”

Segui attended the event with her mother Miriam and Rios’ mother Anna, who were both in on the secret. Segui knew she and Rios would eventually marry, but she had no idea what the night held in store.

Toward the end of the event, the DJs had all the guests take a seat so they could give out prizes to three lucky attendees. The last prize, an engagement ring, was awarded to Segui, as secretly arranged by Drozd and Rios.

She was so overcome with emotion at the unexpected prize she didn’t notice Rios emerging from the kitchen entrance. Stealthily intercepting her, he lowered to the floor on bent knee. He held forward the tiny black box, containing the promise of marriage, and lifted the lid to reveal a glittering diamond ring.  “Will you marry me?” he asked.

Tears flowed to Segui’s eyes as she delivered a verklempt affirmation.

“He’s amazing. There’s no one else like him,” said Segui, who works as a nurse for an after-hours clinic in Robinsville.

If Rios does not find a law enforcement job within the next few months, he will be deployed on active duty again to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates come August. He and Segui will wait for the outcome of his job search to set a date for the wedding.