Choctaw Fireman’s Fair kicks off festival season!
March 3, 2020
Jamie John Folse
March 4, 2020
Hundreds of onlookers — and tens of thousands on social media after its video went viral — watched Tyler Burton propose to his girlfriend Meagan Bourque on Sunday, Feb. 23 during the Krewe of Terreanians parade.
The special engagement, which was met with a thunderous cheer and many likes, shares and comments on the web, came at a complete shock to Bourque. “When he first got off the float, the first thing I asked him was, ‘What are you doing off the float?’ I thought he might have been in trouble,” she laughed.
“That’s one thing I would have never expected from him because he’s just so quiet all the time,” Bourque continued. “For him to do that in front of a ton of people, definitely threw me for a loop. I’m still in shock, I think.”
The video shows Burton casually walking up to his future bride-to-be to ask for her hand in marriage, but he said he was nervous leading up to the big moment.
“I tried not to make eye contact with anyone but her,” he said.
Burton, who has been a member of Terreanians for four years, said he was riding for about three hours that day until his float got to where Bourque was along the route.
In addition to waiting hours for perhaps the biggest moment of his life thus far, Burton had to wait a long six months since he originally started to plan the event.
To achieve this feat of stopping the parade, he had to get it approved by the parade captain, his float captain, krewe members, the driver and the officer escorting them. He said everyone was cooperative, however.
Those efforts were worth it, of course, as she did say ‘yes.’
For Burton and Bourque, who have been together for 5 ½ years, Carnival season was just something they always enjoyed doing together since they have been dating, so choosing when and where for the proposal came natural to Burton.
“Mardi Gras was always something we never missed,” said Burton. “It just seemed like the right moment.”
As for how Burton knew Bourque was ‘the one,’ he simply puts it as: “She’s my best friend.”
Bourque echoed those same sentiments of the two being best friends.
“I don’t go to anybody but Tyler,” she added. “A lot of people say, ‘Y’all never fight.’ Why spend time fighting when we like hanging out with each other?”
