What seemed like a regular music gig in the Public Gardens turned into a marriage proposal for one Arlington woman.

Jamie Silver, 28, was playing with a local saxophone ensemble, the Saxyderms, on Monday night when her group started playing a song she didn’t have the music for.

“They started playing “Your Song’’ by Elton John, and then I thought, ‘I think I might know what’s happening,’’’ Silver said. When the song finished, that’s when Mat Willmott, 31, got on one knee.

The Saxyderms started out as a group at Tufts University in early 2006, but when many of the band members graduated, they started playing concerts and outdoor gigs for other people in the community. Both Silver and Willmott joined the group in late 2006.


“We’ve been dating for three and half years. Marriage has been on the table but I had no idea it was going to be that night,’’ said Silver.

She said Wilmott had been planning it for months, arranged the song himself, and had a secret practice without her, telling her he was practicing with a different group. The young man even asked her parents for their permission.

No wedding plans have been decided yet, except that their rescue dog, Lucy (who makes a cameo in the video, if you look carefully enough) will be the ringbearer and the Saxyderms will be the musical guests.

“We’re enjoying the moment and letting the reality of it sink in,’’ she said.

The proposal is also seen in another video.