We love us a good proposal story. It seems like no matter how many of these we hear, we always get a little teary eyed! (Is that normal, by the way?) But this story is especially cute because the two lovebirds involved have known each other since they were in the 5th grade. How sweet is that? Plus, the bride was totally surprised when her future hubby popped the question. Take a look at their romantic beach proposal captured by Studio EMP and then stay tuned for their sweet love story at the end…
PS Find the tutorial for this DIY floral backdrop here.
We think that’s a yes!
This incredible floral wreath was created by Lavenders Flowers. And we might just have the DIY tutorial coming to the blog later today…
From Bree:
Sam and I first met when we were in 5th grade and his family moved in across the street from mine. I wish I could say the rest was history, but that would be way too easy. Somewhere between watching Billy Madison a million times and playing basketball at our neighbors’ house, we grew little crushes on each other. I don’t remember it as well, but Sam says we became “boyfriend and girlfriend” when he yelled from across the street as my mom drove me away. We hugged all of one time and eventually went back to being just friends. Ah, young love!
We went on to attend the same junior high and high school, and then eventually ventured off to San Diego for college. Together, Sam and I went through all the new, awkward and hilarious times college has to offer. Everything from moving into the same dorm and attending our first college parties to binge eating in the cafeteria (Yeah, Cuic!) and watching “The O.C.” marathons, he was always the one guy I could depend on to be by my side. A lot of our friends used to joke around and say we were going to end up getting married, but we’d just laugh and roll our eyes. After 11 years of friendship and apparently resisting fate, Sam and I finally decided to give the whole dating thing a try (again) after graduating from college. We’ve been each other’s partner in crime, travel buddy, roommate and confidant and now, almost four years of dating later, we get to marry each other! I guess we can say the rest is actually history now.
From Sam:
Ever since I can remember, people used to always joke that Bree and I would get married. We would just laugh it off, but I secretly loved it. I think I always knew it was going to happen. After getting hired as a firefighter, I knew I wanted to propose once I was finished with probation. I went to a jeweler, got insanely educated on everything related to rings and started figuring out what direction I wanted to go in. From there, I filled Bree’s mom and sister in and asked them to do some more investigating for me. I kind of knew all along the ring I wanted and they helped confirm my decision! Once I had the ring and had been given the green light from Bree’s dad, all I had left to do was the actual proposal. My birthday was coming up, so I told Bree I wanted to go to catch the sunset at the beach and then head to dinner to celebrate.
I knew I wanted to propose at the beach and have a secret photographer, but the details all came together when Bree’s mom had a friend refer us to Lorely of Studio EMP. We couldn’t have asked for anyone better to capture the day and she was even able to recommend a floral designer to add to the whole vibe. Janelle of Lavenders Flowers put together a floral wreath in the shape of a heart to create the perfect setting. We got down to the beach just in time for the sunset where I stumbled over my words, popped the question and got it all captured perfectly. Instead of going to dinner like I had told Bree, I rented a cabana right on the water down the street where both of our families were waiting to celebrate. Bree was surprised, I was relieved and we got to celebrate with our families the rest of the night. The day could not have turned out better!
From Bree:
Sam is probably the least sneaky person on the planet, so I was convinced I would know when he was going to pop the question. We had talked about it a lot and knew we’d eventually get married, but I never knew exactly when. Little did I know that for over a month, he was secretly concocting the perfect proposal and best surprise of all time.
Looking back, he was shockingly composed and never once led on that something was up. Truly a miracle. We headed down to a cove on the beach I’d never been to and I immediately saw this beautiful setup on the sand. In my head I was freaking out… I was thinking I either missed an anniversary or we were about to interrupt someone else’s romantic evening. I pointed it out, commented on how pretty it was and asked Sam what it was. He shrugged a little and then quietly said it was for me. That’s when I really started to lose it. There were lines of candles and flower petals leading us from the steps to the prettiest floral heart. I’m pretty sure I was shaking and starting to violently sob at this point. Sam got down on his knee and stumbled over the sweetest words before asking me to marry him. He presented me with the most perfect ring he designed himself and then revealed the photographer he hired to capture the whole thing. I had barely regained composure when he drove me to what I thought was going to be dinner and had both of our families waiting there to celebrate with us. The whole thing was the most beautiful blur of love, laughs and happy tears. I’ve never been more surprised or felt more loved than I did that day.
Photographer & Creative Direction: Lorely Meza from Studio EMP / Floral Design: Janelle Wylie from Lavenders Flowers
