Months of planning went into Caity McKenzie's proposal to girlfriend Lucy Stevenson on the Ipima Street light rail station on Tuesday night.
Transport Canberra had been brought on board by Caity to make the proposal even more special, with the station lit up in blue to match the sapphire engagement ring she was planning to give Lucy. Caity also organised for a friend to take photos and Transport Canberra happily contributed with a special graphic and Bruno Mars' Marry You playing on the loud speaker.
The station was chosen because it's where the couple shared their first kiss, not because they are tram fanciers per se (although they are all for light rail).
When Lucy said yes, the graphic lit up at the station's sign, confirming "She said yes!" and congratulating the happy couple.
Lucy, 32, an engineer, and Caity, 29, who works in international development, met last year "the way everyone meets - on the Internet", they said, with a laugh.
The couple usually do trivia at the Old Canberra Inn on a Tuesday, so Caity suggested they get the tram this week and go to the Howling Moon for a drink beforehand, just as they had before that first kiss.
"So we had a drink and came across to the tram and there was a tram here and Caity was like, 'Let's get the next one' and I'm like, 'It looks like there's room here' and she's like, 'No, no, no, we'll get the next one'," Lucy said with a laugh.
When Caity went down on one knee, Lucy was surprised, even though she had an inkling something was up.
"I knew you'd get in before me, I just didn't think you'd get that far before me," Lucy told Caity.
And Lucy "got a bit flustered".
"Then I got on the ground and she said, 'What are you doing on the ground? Get up'," Caity said.
"So when I was kneeling down, Lucy was down there next to me and I was like, 'That's no how it's supposed to work'."
Lucy said, "It was very cute."
The couple live together so Caity had to be super-stealthy in preparing the proposal, starting early in the year.
"The ring wasn't too difficult. I worked with a jeweller in Bondi which we mostly did by email and then I had it delivered to friends around the corner," she said.
Caity then approached Transport Canberra to see if the station could be lit up in the blue to match the sapphire and because it's Lucy's favourite colour. She wasn't sure if it was possible.
"I got an an email back saying, 'Not only is it possible, we may go a little overboard'," she said, with a laugh.
Transport Canberra was more than happy to join in the celebrations for the first engagement involving the tram that it has been informed about.
The couple are having a big week, also hoping to buy a home this weekend.
Caity said she and Lucy were a good team.
"We think very differently but we're quite career-focused and family orientated and my favourite thing about spending time with Lucy is our intellectual discussions, diving into the news or whatever we're watching," she said.
Lucy said, "And we're really good at doing hard things together.
"For a reasonably short relationship, we've been through quite a lot. It's been quite a rollercoaster."
