Real Proposal Stories
We asked to hear about your proposal stories, but we did not expect your stories to be romantic-comedy worthy! Be warned, you’ll need tissues for this post.
Simone & Victor
“Our journey began with tears, chats, and a letter,” Simone recalls. Their relationship started with a goodbye. “It was Victor’s going away party. He was moving to Nebraska the next day. We had been friends, for a long time but had never pushed beyond those walls.” Simone remembers feeling upset while everyone else was laughing and celebrating. When Victor saw her crying, they went outside to talk about why, “mainly, feelings neither he nor I knew we felt.” Sharing their feelings was new territory, and at the time they didn’t know if it would be worth. It stayed with them both for a while – “we even talked about me moving to Nebraska for school,” says Simone. She didn’t, though, and instead sent Victor a letter to let him know why she made the decision she did.
Don’t worry; this story has a happy ending.
Eventually, they did start to date and “from late 2016 I knew that he was going to ask me to marry him. It was just a matter of when and where,” Simone remembers. It happened around his birthday and took her completely by surprise. “In February of this year, he got us tickets to a Biz Markie concert with a bunch of his friends.” They called the couple up on stage – “I thought they were probably planning something for his birthday when they called us up to the stage. I was totally clueless, thinking: ‘Why does he have a mic and is about to sing happy birthday to himself?’ He took my hand and I knew at that moment that our lives would never be the same again. Biz Markie put on a song the audience immediately recognized and they started cheering for us.”
🎶It’s a beautiful night. I’m looking for something fun to do. Hey, baby, I think I wanna marry you🎶
“Right there, in front of 2,500 people, on stage, he went down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The moment was incredible, and I’ll never forget it.”
Go ahead. Be jealous. We definitely are!
Jeanine & Joshua
Brooklyn Wheeler
Jeanine and Josh have been dating for almost 10 years, after meeting in high school. “Back then it was a cool thing for everyone to post on their Facebook page the classes they were taking and teachers for the year, so I did, too,” Jeanine reminisces. Turns out, Josh had already had a bit of a crush on her.
“He decided he wanted to change his classes to match mine in order to get to know me better. Because my last name is Smith and his is Stapleton, we sat by each other for every class! That is how it all started…” They may seem like the perfect high school sweethearts, but Jeanine actually turned Josh down when he asked her to be his girlfriend! “He asked me to Senior Prom and I couldn’t say no! While we were there, he asked me to be his girlfriend with a promise ring. My answer was…no!” In typical feminism fashion (you go, girl!) she had to make him work for it.
“I didn’t want him to think he had me wrapped around his finger.” A week later, their Facebook status was official – they were boyfriend and girlfriend. “Now, after a Howard College career and almost ten years later, we are more in love than ever and engaged to be HUSBAND and WIFE!” Eek!
So with a story as romantic as theirs, how did the proposal go down? We promise you won’t be disappointed. “April 29, 2017 was the day a dream of mine became reality,” Jeanine says. Joshua’s cousin was getting married and Jeanine and Josh had just moved and were having a housewarming party, so his cousin and fiance stopped by to visit.
“Everything appeared to be beyond normal! That Friday night we had dinner and drinks. We laughed over old times and talked about the weekend ahead of us. I went to sleep that night not knowing that would be the last time I would close my eyes as Joshua’s girlfriend.” Saturday morning, Jeanine and the bride rushed around doing some last minute wedding planning and attending trial makeup appointments – little did she know how handy that makeup application would become!
“The four of us met for brunch at one of my favorites restaurants in Chicago, Wildberry Café,” which just so happens to be where Joshua and Jeanine celebrated their 9 year anniversary. “After the bill was paid, Joshua got really anxious and said we needed to go. The four of us left the restaurant and stood in the rain where the guys covered us. They told us that they needed to blindfold us and they had a HUGE surprise across the street waiting for us!” Are you suspicious yet? It’s easy for us to see what was waiting to happen, but Jeanine had no idea!
“One million thoughts ran through my head EXCEPT what was about to happen. When we finally stopped and he asked me to take off my blindfold, I opened my eyes; my mouth dropped as I saw that I was surrounded by over 50 of my close family and friends. That’s when I knew, but was still in denial of what was about to happen! He stated ‘Jeanine Renee Smith, you are the love of my life’ as I am still in complete disbelief!” He continued but in typical Jeanine fashion (because don’t we all feel like we know her a little bit, now?)
“I walked away! Not because I didn’t want to be his wife, but because I was so overwhelmed! Grabbing my arm, he brought me back to look into his eyes, kneeled on one knee and asked me to be his WIFE! My reply as tears streamed down my face and heart beating out of my chest was, ‘Of course! YES!’ It still feels like a dream to me when I think about it. It’s a dream turned reality!”
Not jealous, yet? Here’s the cherry on top of a beautiful proposal: “He surprised me with a trip to Paris!”
Kristina & Nick
Photography by Katie
A true 21st-Century couple, “Nick and I met online with love at first swipe right!” Kristina says. They are also the embodiment of the saying “when you know, you know.” Over the course of three days, Kristina and Nick first met, went on their first and second date, met each other’s parents, and became boyfriend and girlfriend! Even though Kristina was planning on moving to South Carolina in just a few days to become a teacher, Nick insisted on meeting her.
“Nick drove 2 hours from his hometown in Poneto, Indiana to meet me in Bowling Green, Ohio where I was finishing college for the summer. My roommate was moving out of the house that evening with her parents, so the back door was left open as they made their trips to the truck. Then I heard a car pull up in the driveway and my dog darted outside. As I stepped outside, I saw the most handsome man I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Nick was down on the ground petting Oliver and the dog’s tail was wagging like crazy. When Nick stood up, my thoughts were ‘Dang, this man is out of my league…and he wants to go on a date with ME?’ and ‘Calm down Kristina, just be yourself.'”
Pretty good first date advice. Like the gentleman he is, Nick brought flowers and greeted Kristina with a hug. “It was so comforting to finally meet him as I looked at him with googly eyes,” Kristina recalls. They knew that this was something special on their first date. After dinner, they took a walk with Oliver, but when Kristina took his hand, Nick stopped talking. “He later explained to me that at that moment, I took his breath away.” CAN YOU EVEN?! They finished the night by sitting on her roof and gazing at the stars just talking. The next day, it was Kristina’s turn to visit Nick. They had dinner, rode a motorcycle, and she got to meet his mom, who would later become her mother-in-law.
“On Friday, I moved out of my college house with my dad and uncle since I was moving to South Carolina the next morning. I was saddened that I felt like I just met the love of my life and that I was about to move 700 miles away from him. I then had a crazy idea to invite Nick to come along with my family to move me down to South Carolina, which he said he’d love to go. Then, I called my mother, sister, and sister-in-law to see if they’d mind that he come along. They were surprised that there was even a man in my life, but happy for me and welcomed him along for the ride,” said Kristina.
“Nick met my parents that night at my house and met my siblings the next morning before sunrise. I could see my family’s excitement in meeting Nick. When we got to my new apartment, Nick was the best helper in unloading everything and setting up my furniture. He spent the weekend with my family, we became official “boyfriend and girlfriend” on July 29, and we shared a tough goodbye Monday morning. We had confidence in our new relationship and zero doubts that it would work out in the end.” And they were right! This couple had been together for just eight months when he popped the question!
Not able to live so far apart, Kristina took a job interview in Indiana and made a last-minute trip. To celebrate, Nick made reservations at a restaurant right after the interview. “We were both looking forward to a nice dinner together after being apart because of our long-distance relationship.” By a twist in conversation, Nick decided to check the reservation only to find that he had made the reservation for tomorrow night…or so she thought. They took a later reservation and were going to wait in the bar next door.
Instead, “I saw a horse and carriage in front of the restaurant. Carriage rides always begin and end at this location in Fort Wayne, so I didn’t think a whole lot of them being there. Nick got out of the car, shook the driver’s hand, and made small talk with him. I didn’t think much of this either since Nick is such a social guy and talks to everyone. Then the driver said, ‘I just had a cancellation and they already paid for their ride. Would you guys like a free ride?’ Well, of course we wouldn’t say no!”
They were enjoying their ride and talking about their future when suddenly Nick jumped out of the carriage because he saw something. Low and behold, it was Oliver! He was dressed in a tuxedo waiting so still and perfectly in the snow next to a big bouquet of red roses on a table with white silk. I was confused at first, but when I realized that it was my dog, that was the moment that I knew what was happening. Tears started flowing from my eyes.” And, you know the rest. Nick got down on one knee and proposed and Kristina said YES! “Nick didn’t actually call the restaurant about the reservations. He called his brother-in-law who did a great impression. The carriage ride was all planned out. He asked me to bring my dog Oliver to his house that day because he said we were going to a dog-training course the next morning. And I was clueless and very surprised! Oh, and we did go back to the restaurant for an amazing dinner as a newly engaged couple!” Our cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Congratulations to the happy, engaged couples! We love hearing stories about how you fell in love and got engaged, and we can’t wait to be a part of your journey as you plan the wedding of your dreams!
