A shopping trip to remember: Man proposes inside Regina Costco

One woman left Regina’s Costco with something that wasn’t written on her shopping list: A fiancé.

“I didn’t see most of our friends at that time,” Amanda Anderson said. “I thought there was a huge line to get out of Costco and I had only recognized two people in that huge crowd.

“When I turn around and he’s on one knee, I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ And it was almost perfect because all of our friends congregated all around us at the perfect time and then I started to clue in after all that time.”

Tim Bamford said the idea started as a joke when he was talking to his then-girlfriend-now-fiancée Anderson and her doula about possible ideas for a wedding during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I kind of referenced Costco and said, ‘Hey, we should just get married at Costco,’ ” Bamford said. “Who doesn’t love their Polish sausages for $1.50 with a Coke? They have a liquor store on site, they have flowers and patio lights and lawn chairs — what more do you need for a wedding?”

But then the idea picked up steam.

“I went through a number of options on how I was going to propose; this has been a three-month process. I’ve known that I’ve wanted to marry her for a long time,” Bamford said.

And after talking to friends and finding out many of them had Costco memberships, he decided the grocery giant would be the place to do it.

So he told all their friends to meet there at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25 — their anniversary as a couple.

“We walked in the door and as soon as I walked in the door, I started seeing people I knew almost immediately and I was like, ‘Oh no, our cover’s blown. She’s going to know for sure. There’s way too many people here that we know,’ ” Bamford said.

But Anderson didn’t notice, so Bamford’s plan remained in motion.

“We get to the self-checkout lane and all of my friends are literally in the self-checkout lane checking out with a bouquet of flowers in their hand,” Bamford said.

Then Anderson began to question why all of their friends were gathering at one place like this.

“I got down on my knee and said, ‘Because I love you and I want everyone to see how much I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you,’ ” Bamford said. “Then everyone started cheering for us to kiss, which we did at the Costco food court checkout.”

They said they haven’t set a date for their wedding as they wait to see how COVID public health measures get loosened.