Scott Swanson
Leah Dauley, of Sweet Home, got a surprise marriage proposal two years ago at the Oregon Jamboree, courtesy of her then-boyfriend Michael Jones of Springfield and festival favorite Neal McCoy.
Dauley recently connected with The New Era to let us know how things progressed after that moment. She and Jones got married June 23 of this year at the Wonser Woods Estate in Estacada, in front of 200 guests.
Wedding party members consisted of Sweet Home natives Ava Farris, Savana McCalister, Katelyn Norman, Hannah Dauley and Jessica Burdine – all of whom now live in Springfield, where the Joneses also reside.
Dauley-Jones, as she is now known, a full-time flight attendant based in Las Vegas, is a 2010 graduate of Sweet Home High School. She is the daughter of Jennifer Norman, Ed Norman and Richard Dauley.
Her husband graduated from Thurston and works for Bigfoot Beverages in the Eugene area.
They met in December of 2012.
“I was working at Royal Caribbean, taking phone calls for their customer service line. Michael was working at Royal Caribbean as a security officer,” she said. I came in early one morning by accident do to time change and I had extra breakfast (McDonalds McMuffins) and I offered it to him and that’s where it all started.”
She said the fact that the marriage proposal, on stage with McCoy, was publicized in the newspaper gave her an idea for her wedding theme.
“Our invites and programs were real newspapers and our theme was basically vintage,” she said. “My bridesmaids wore velvet burgundy long sleeve floor-length dresses that were elegant and our groomsmen wore a simple black and white tux.
“I wanted the feel of the wedding to be if you took a step into the past and arrived at a house party in the ’20s. We had a vintage living room set up with couches, end tables, rugs, etc., outside on the grass. My ceremony aisle was vintage rustic rugs all up it, and we also stuck with the greenery look to tie in Oregon to our wedding, floral arrangements consisted of only greenery found in the woods other than my bouquet that had a few flowers.”
They honeymooned for two weeks in Bali, Indonesia, where “we saw wild monkeys, lounged at the beach and enjoyed local food,” Dauley-Jones reported.