It’s 7:30 a.m. and the temperature has dipped to a record-breaking low.

As Nick Smith lines up to get into the Heart and Crown, he’s purposely not snuggling up for warmth with his girlfriend Faron Gogo.

“I just didn't want her to hug me hard enough so she felt the ring,” says Smith.

It’s the opposite of cold feet – a planned marriage proposal. Still, Smith wasn’t expecting it to be the coldest St. Patrick’s Day in Ottawa history. The temperature dropping to -21C breaking the original record set in 1961.

“It was absolutely freezing. We brought blankets, we brought coffee in thermoses, but it wasn't going to keep us back. St. Paddy's is like a second Christmas to our family,” says the unsuspecting Gogo.

The family has been coming to the Byward Market bar as a yearly tradition, the cold not about to stop them now.

Other establishments like Tucker’s Marketplace embracing the deep chill. Hoping to replicate the start to patio season Ottawa saw two years ago.

“We're really trying to keep the patio season going a little bit longer every year and we're off to an early start this year. So we build it they will come,” says owner Tom Hughes.

Now, inside the heated Heart and Crown, Smith makes his move. He drops to one knee and asks Gogo for her hand in marriage.

The answer: yes.

Despite Mother Nature throwing him a loop, Smith says the luck of the Irish was definitely on his side.

“Luckiest guy on earth,” he says.

With a report from CTV’s John Hua.