Photo: Anna K. Photography
First comes love, then comes marriage. But before the joy of wedding planning begins comes the biggest, happiest question of all: Will you marry me? Thanks to HowHeAsked, we found some real, romantic, and ridiculously creative proposal stories that will get you inspired, tearing up, or both!
Sure, "when you know, you know" is a cliché, but it couldn't be more true for Jeanie Beth and David. The couple knew each other for just six months before David proposed on Jekyll Island's stunning Driftwood Beach. The road to that picture-perfect moment, though, took some meticulous planning.
See more: Design Your Dream Engagement Ring
Three months into their relationship, Jeanie Beth and David had the marriage talk. They discussed how being together made life easier, but Jeanie Beth also let him know that she had some specific requests.
"From day one I told David that when the time came he HAD to have Anna hiding in the bushes, in the nearest tree, wherever to capture every stinkin' moment of it all," she says, mentioning the friend and photographer who eventually snapped the whole proposal. "I just knew that in all of the shock, and excitement I would forget the small details and that just couldn't happen!"
On the Tuesday before David proposed, Anna called Jeanie Beth, asking her to fill in for a model who had dropped out of a photo shoot at the last minute. Jeanie Beth happily accommodated her schedule for her friend, while secretly wondering for a moment if the plan was a ruse for a proposal.
Anna picked up Jeanie Beth the next Friday and drove her out to Jekyll Island for the shoot; Jeanie Beth regaled her friend with stories of her first date with Dave on the way. "To tell you the complete truth after that car ride, I was totally convinced that yet again, I was wrong, and that this really was just a blog shoot," Jeanie Beth says. "I mean Anna perfected the little white lie to a T, with props and everything!"
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When they got to the island, Jeanie Beth grabbed a bouquet and got right to posing. About 15 minutes in, she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see her boyfriend.
"For the first two second I was in such shock I really didn't know what was going on until he so gracefully got down on one knee, looked me dead in the eye, and said 'Jeanie Beth, I love you. Marry Me,'" she recalls.
Without saying a word, Jeanie Beth ecstatically grabbed Dave for a tight embrace. "I didn't want to let go, I didn't want to loose nor forget that feeling that I felt in that very moment, until he said, 'Well, are you going to put the ring on?!," Jeanie Beth says. She shouted "yes" in response, put on the ring, and got right back to hugging her brand-new fiancé.
Our Takeaways
1. It helps to knows what you want: Jeanie Beth knew what would make a marriage proposal extra-special—having a photographer capture every moment—and she wasn't shy about letting her boyfriend know. So when the time came, she got exactly what she desired!
2. Get a friend in on the plan: Not only did Jeanie Beth's friend Anna agree to be the proposal photographer, she was fully complicit in the "photo shoot" foil. Gotta love a friend who gets in on the action!
3. Embrace the moment: How sweet is it that Jeanie Beth was so overtaken by emotion and love for her new fiancé that she completely forgot to put on her beautiful engagement ring?! The ring will last forever, but that moment-of euphoria is ephemeral, at best.
Click here to read more about Jeanie Beth and David's engagement and don't forget to follow @HowHeAsked on Twitter!