Ryan Giarrusso’s romantic plan almost didn’t work.

As he walked across the Syracuse University quad the afternoon of Oct. 5, 2013, it suddenly started pouring rain. On the day of the homecoming football game against Clemson, what should have been a packed quad was empty, save for a few stragglers huddled under the tent.

But Giarrusso was determined. Despite the hiccup in his plans, he went to meet Syracuse University Marching Band director Justin Mertz to don the band uniform that would be his disguise.

“Once I got the suit on, I peeked out the front doors and it was sunny again,” said Giarrusso, 30. “It was all sunny and I could see my friends and family. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I really have to really go through with this now.’”

Soon after, Giarrusso got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend, Katie Lappin, the SU Dance Team coach. There was Orange all around; the marching band played in the background while members of Lappin’s team and Otto danced nearby.

With the couple’s family and friends cheering her on, Lappin said yes. The proposal, orchestrated by Giarrusso with help from Mertz, cheerleading head coach Dena Segbers and members of the dance team, was captured on video and posted online. Soon after, the video went viral.

Lappin, 26, has been the coach of the dance team for five seasons. Giarrusso said he knew as soon as he decided to propose that he wanted it to be at SU, since Lappin is so involved with the team. His original plan, he said, was to ask on the Kiss Cam at a football game.

But when he found out he was restricted from coming onto the floor, he had to move on to plan B: dress up as Otto the Orange.

Yet again, Giarrusso’s plan changed.

“A week before doing it, I was like, ‘Now I’m a little nervous to be Otto. I don’t know how I’d get out of the thing,’” he said. “And if I’m out there for a certain amount of time, there are kids and people. I don’t know how to be Otto.”

Giarrusso reached out to Mertz, director of the marching band, who agreed to loan him a band uniform. Segbers suggested the band perform “Hey! Baby,” but alter the lyrics to “Hey! Katie.” Otto distracted Lappin by forcing her to do an impromptu dance with him. That gave Giarrusso time to sneak up behind her, drop to one knee and pull out the ring.

“I was terrified,” Giarrusso said. “It was a lot of nervous energy. I had some adrenaline going.”

And for Lappin, it was a total surprise.

“I think he knew it was something I would never expect,” Lappin said. “To me, I’m working. I’m very focused on what the girls are doing, where the girls are and that aspect of game day. So in doing that, he knew he would completely catch me off guard. Completely.”

Lappin and Giarrusso met at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where Giarrusso still works as a branch manager. The pair has been together for nearly six years, and Lappin said most of their friends are either engaged or married.

“So I was kind of waiting,” she said. “Any time we would go out to dinner, I would say, ‘Do I have to dress up? Do I have to get my nails done?’ But I never thought he would go to that extreme.”

For those who were expecting the proposal, however, it was difficult to stay quiet.

“I could hardly look her in the eye during practice that week because every time I saw her, I just wanted to smile,” Kendra Kleeburg, a member of the dance team, said in an email.

The junior marketing and graphic design dual major found out Giarrusso was going to propose a week prior and worked with Segbers and other members of the team who were let in on the secret. They coordinated where the team would stand and who would hold the signs they created reading: “Coach said YES.”

Now, four months later, Giarrusso and Lappin are working on planning the wedding. The couple has set a date — Oct. 25, 2014 — which, coincidentally, is the same weekend that SU football will play Clemson again.

Lappin said she draws the line at Syracuse-themed nuptials, but when two fans get married, there’s bound to be a nod to SU.

Said Lappin: “It won’t be the center of my wedding, but there’s always room for orange and blue.”

 

Published on February 12, 2014 at 11:55 pm

Contact Avery: avhartma@syr.edu | @averyhartmans