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Golden & Erik

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When Golden Grant and Erik Exley met, it was the closest thing to love at first sight imaginable. It’s possible that the electronics in the store even sizzled.

“Eric was my boss at Best Buy,” Golden smiles. “I remember seeing him walk in the front door and the general manager said, ‘That’s your boss right there.’ I remember thinking that he was gorgeous. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. For the first time in my life I was nervous. I didn’t know how to speak to this man; I didn’t know what to do when he was around me.”

“I remember the first time I saw her,” Erik reminisces. “She was walking across the store for an interview. My leg stopped mid stride as I tried to decide whether to wave or smile. Our interactions were short and sweet but they always left me wanting to talk to her more. The days went by and I would make a point to talk to her until one day she no longer worked at the store and she called me to hang out.”

Golden, 25, now works as assistant manager at Ziggy’s Coffee; Erik, 31, remains at Best Buy as a general manager. Erik proposed to Golden on October 9, 2014, their five-year anniversary. “All week he was nervous. He wasn’t talking much. He wanted us to go up to Vail but I wanted to stay home. So all week he kept wanting to go out and do things together but of course I was being stubborn and just wanted to relax at home. That morning, October 9th, he said he needed to go to his mom and dad’s. I thought it was odd but I said okay. Our trip to the pumpkin patch that night was rained out, so the entire family was at his mom and dad’s house and I was sitting on the couch.

“He came over and handed me a box and said, ‘Happy Anniversary!’ It was a beautiful necklace with my favorite stone, tanzanite. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a tanzanite ring and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ Of course, after five years I was so shocked that it was finally happening that I said, ‘Are you being serious?’ I then cried so hard but I still managed to say, ‘Yes, of course I will!’ He was so happy he forgot to put my ring on my finger. It wouldn’t have been so real if his family hadn’t been there!”

Golden and Erik are planning an intimate ceremony and have decided to elope. “We haven’t decided on a location or a date yet,” shares Golden. “We want to be outside on top of a mountain in a field of aspen trees during the fall, when all the leaves are changing color. It’s our favorite time of the year.

“We’re just going to have fun with it and probably decide a month or two before the big day. Following the wedding we want to have a picnic, just the two of us, a few friends and Katie Brewer, our photographer, to capture the most beautiful moments. We picture daisies everywhere, old lanterns and Mason jars with photos of our special moments lining the path to the altar, and enjoying our barbecue, even with my white dress, while we soak in the moment. We have such a rare love and I can’t wait to walk down the aisle to him and be able to finally say ‘I do’ to my best friend.” HLM