Everything happens for a Riesling, including this very special engagement.
Back in January, writer and artist Michael James Schneider in Portland, Oregon, made a makeshift boyfriend out of boxed wines after breaking up with his actual human boyfriend.
āSince I didnāt have a boyfriend anymore, I made one myself out of the discarded wine boxes I āself-medicatedā with, along with some boxes others friends donated,ā he told HuffPost of the jokey art project.
Schneider posted some special moments with his āboyfriendā on Twitter, and the pics quickly went viral. (There were a lot of lonely, āwow, this is meā responses, as you can imagine.)
Funny, but this epic love story between a man and his boxed wine wasnāt over. Hardly.
Last week, Schneider revealed on Twitter that he and his wine bae are engaged!
Wow, we havenāt seen a happier couple since this guy took engagement photos with a Mission-style burrito in San Francisco.
Twitter loved the pics this time, too, and came prepared with jokes:
Howād the engagement go down? Franz, Schneiderās boxed wine boo, popped the question at the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in Portland.
āLittle did I know, Franz had called my friends to surprise me!ā the artist told us. āThey surrounded us just as he knelt down and proposed, and of course I said yes. The ring is beautiful, too!ā
The pics ā taken by Portland photographer Cole Keister ā are extra funny thanks in large part to Schneiderās palsā hyped-up reactions:
They really got into it:
Schneider thinks this joke has legs (Cabernet Sauvignon ones, to be exact), so heās going to let it play out for a little longer.
In the meantime, he and Franz are enjoying the cozy post-engagement, pre-wedding stage of their relationship.
āWe cook dinner together, we have pizza and sweatpants nights while watching Netflix,ā he said. āOur love is just like anyone elseās love. Whatās really annoying is when strangers come up to us in public and ask, āWhich oneās the āmanā and which oneās the āperson-shaped entity made of boxes of wine mysteriously brought to lifeā?āand Iām, like, āThose arenāt the only two genders, Linda!āā
As for the actual wedding, Schneider would love for a local venue to donate its space and for the event to be a fundraiser for the ACLU. For the most part, though, he and Franz are taking things slow with wedding planning.
āIt feels too soon to be talking about the wedding!ā Schneider said. āI have to meet my new in-laws first, which Iām pretty nervous about. Stay tuned...ā
Weād say āPour us a glass of wine and we will!ā but that seems wildly insensitive, huh? š¬
Cheers to the happy couple!