Sheila Johnson, Marrying Very Well

"Oh yes," she says he answered, "I do."

A few weeks later, he came to the Washington International Horse Show, and they've been together ever since.

He proposed with a grand, emerald-cut diamond ring surrounded by four baguettes. They had gone out to dinner and come back to the living room of his house, "and he just got down on his knees. I thought he was fainting. I didn't know what was going on," Johnson says. She holds out her hand to show off the ring, which stretches elegantly, but not entirely, from knuckle to knuckle.

"He is truly the warmest and most wonderful man in the world." She emphasizes his "integrity," then adds, "He's got a good moral compass to him."

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The minister said, "The peace of the Lord be always with you" and the bride and groom kissed once, twice, three times (it was hard to count).

The back doors of the indoor riding arena were opened and the guests walked down a carpeted walkway lit with lanterns to enter the tented outdoor riding arena, draped with rich burnt orange fabric.

The night's menu included chilled Maine lobster salad tower, roasted tournedos of dry aged angus beef, foie gras sauce, local sweet potatoes, chantarelle mushrooms and petals of brussels sprouts.

A dance floor painted blue and white shone with 20 layers of lighting designed to make it look like a swirling pond.

Grammy nominee Patti Austin serenaded the newlyweds with Cole Porter's "True Love." They danced very close. Sheila Johnson was beaming.