<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Everyone adores a good love story. But the latest fairytale taking the Internet by storm? It&amp;#039;s simply out of this world. Meet Alfred Duncan, an entertainer and motivational speaker in Washington D.C. He wanted to propose to his wife, Sherrell, who&amp;#039;s also a motivational speaker, as well as a personal trainer. So what did he do? Oh, just casually threw a surprise wedding with hundreds of guests six hours after the proposal. Cue the happy tears... and the viral hashtag, #ForeverDuncan.  &amp;quot;At the end of the day, I was just excited because I was with my wife,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot; I was excited that I pulled it off and that everyone who helped did a great job and went without a hitch.&amp;quot; But it wasn&amp;#039;t easy, and it wasn&amp;#039;t ad lib either. Read on to see exactly how he did it by the numbers \u2014 and may it inspire your own proposal, wedding or daydreams. 3 Months To Plan The Wedding            And so it begins. #foreverduncan. For those that know whats going on please feel free to post whatever you like. Please use hashtag #foreverduncan. Don&amp;#039;t worry. I have her phone. She won&amp;#039;t be able to see anything until its over. A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 6:35am PDT     Though the wedding was a complete surprise for the bride, it wasn&amp;#039;t a last-minute gesture from the groom, who spent three months planning the wedding and studying Sherrell&amp;#039;s preferences.  &amp;quot;Most men want to surprise their woman, and they want that element of surprise when it comes to a proposal,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot;However, she knew it was going to happen eventually, so I thought I&amp;#039;d go a little further and do the wedding. But also, because I knew this was going to happen, there was no point in waiting.&amp;quot;  Once the big day finally came, Alfred took Sherrell&amp;#039;s phone and told her he was planning everything for the day. In an Instagram video he posted, the soon-to-be bride nervously asks, &amp;quot;Does it involve animals?&amp;quot;  If only she knew. 2 Months To Design The Dress  A big question on some people&amp;#039;s minds: How did Sherrell feel about not picking out the dress? Although she didn&amp;#039;t know it would be her wedding dress, Sherrell actually designed the gown herself, thanks to a mutual friend of the couple who is a designer. The master plan: The designer would say she was creating a new clothing line, and needed Sherrell&amp;#039;s help. &amp;quot;She measured her, asked her about different fabrics and designs she liked, and what she would wear to an elegant event or a wedding,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot;It took about two months for the designer to get a sketch. She sent that to me, and I said I loved it, so she went forward.&amp;quot; $300 To Buy A Very Special Ring  Since Sherrell is a personal trainer, and Alfred enjoys riding bikes and running in marathons, the groom wanted a ring that would be functional. Plus, he knew Sherrell wasn&amp;#039;t one to get excited about an overwhelming ring with a ton of bling. &amp;quot;I looked at three jewelry stores, and about seven to eight different options, but none of them seemed like they would work with her,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot;Then I found a company that actually makes functional rings out of silicone, and they have bands for men and women. I thought it was a great idea considering the types of activities we&amp;#039;re involved in.&amp;quot; Sensible and personal... Now that&amp;#039;s romantic. 0 Rehearsals Before The Proposal           She said YES. #foreverduncan. Stay tuned A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 8:56am PDT     Alfred had planned to prepare before the big day, but ran out of time. What he said from the heart, however, was far better than any prepared speech. &amp;quot;I wanted to write something, especially before the wedding, however, I didn&amp;#039;t get the chance to,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot;So everything was just from the heart. There was nothing that was rehearsed or prepared beforehand.&amp;quot; 15 People Who Watched The Proposal           ...on our knees SCREAMING THANK YOU GOD for being an on time God. Thank you for creating these moments. We are so happy that we made you happy! We love you with put WHOLE hearts!!! #ForeverDuncan www.foreverduncan.com A video posted by Sherrell D. (@sherrellthetrainer) on Oct 3, 2016 at 2:30am PDT     Sherrell&amp;#039;s young daughter beckoned her mother into a private room in a restaurant, where about 15 loved ones were waiting to witness the proposal. &amp;quot;It was both of our families, including her mother and her sisters, her brother, her father, her daughter, her grandmother and her nieces,&amp;quot; says Alfred. 2 Hours To Plan A Last-Minute Venue           For those that know about the surprise today. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL. LOCATION CHANGE. Please pass this information on to anyone you know that has been invited. A photo posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 10:58am PDT     While Sherrell was ushered off to change into her new gown and get her hair and makeup done (which she was told was for engagement photos), gloomy news arrived. The weather wasn&amp;#039;t cooperating with the original venue planned for the wedding \u2014 a mutual friend&amp;#039;s backyard. It had been storming for four days, and the downpour showed no promise of letting up. &amp;quot;Two hours before the wedding, my sister, niece and cousin reached out for help from different people and found an art gallery that was willing to do it for us,&amp;quot; says Alfred.  Whew. Crisis adverted. 3 Top-Secret Social Media Posts           Right before I pop the question. She has no idea the kinda of day she is about to endure #foreverduncan A video posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 1, 2016 at 7:32am PDT     Alfred had taken Sherrell&amp;#039;s phone for the day, and posted updates for the surprise throughout the morning and afternoon. &amp;quot;I had intentions of making a lot more, however, when we made the venue change, we had to focus on getting the information out to the people about it,&amp;quot; says Alfred. Still, the hashtag caught on. Little did the couple know it would soon go viral.  250 People Attended The Wedding  Sherrell arrived blindfolded at the wedding, where she was overcome with emotion and welcomed by hundreds of guests wishing the couple well on the special day. &amp;quot;I invited a lot of people,&amp;quot; says Alfred. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t even remember how many I invited, but there were at least 250 at the ceremony.&amp;quot; 13,000 Mentions On Instagram           We here wit @djquicksilva @thelilmoshow on the #thefamITM!! Lets have some fun. A photo posted by Alfred Duncan (@alfredthemc) on Oct 5, 2016 at 5:05am PDT     What does a giant gesture like this earn you these days? Well, major brownie points with your snookums, to begin with. But also, major Internet fame. Before the wedding, the hashtag #ForeverDuncan was mentioned 35 times on Instagram.  Now, it&amp;#039;s been used more than 13,000 times. Talk about incredible wedding planning.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/news/a9173/forever-duncan-wedding/>