A couple years ago...

John and Ri matched on an app (jeez, millennial these days, am I right?), they had coffee, had dinner, John made Ri another dinner, they played mini golf, went to some concerts, cooked dinners for friends, saw a ballet that featured segways, travelled the country, then the world, Ri received her Masters, John started on his - and they both moved up to Los Angeles.  Needless to say they had fallen madly in love...

Engagement photography by Brianna Caster & Co. Photography.

Okay, but like - How did he propose?!?

On Sunday, January 14th I proposed to my best friend and the love of my life. So here is the full story - 

At 6am on our two-year anniversary I woke up and grumbled out of bed to make Ri breakfast in bed. Fresh squeezed orange juice, Eggs Benedict, breakfast potatoes, strawberries and freshly-made whipped cream. When I delivered the tray she, just barely awake, mumbled wanting to know what we were doing that day. I got up from the bed, reached into a drawer where I had hidden an envelope, and pulled out her first clue. As I handed it to her I said "Today is the day" with what I could only image was a ridiculous smile.

Ri of course freaked out (in a good way) and almost knocked her tray of food over before exclaiming "WHAT? We're getting engaged today?!?!" to which I smugly replied "Yes - but I'm not proposing until the end of the day"

After finishing breakfast, changing and packing for the day Ri was out the door without me.

Her day would take her to some of the most meaningful places in our relationship - the gazebo where we helped her best friend get engaged (Ri was her maid of honor), a part of the lovely San Juan Capistrano Ri had taken me to for the first time - astonished I didn't know what the town was all about, to a soccer field where we had shared countless nights playing and running around, and to her mom's house where we had also created so many memories. At each stop she collected more and more friends and family who got to share Ri's special day with her. Two of Ri's best friends who live out of state even participated with videos that became a part of the clues that sent her from place to place in her scavenger hunt. 

Ultimately the last clue sent her all the way to Temecula to a stunning olive grove where we had shared an extremely special dinner in the middle of the grove. There my family and a few more friends were waiting. 

She entered the olive grove alone, walked to me, and I got on one knee and asked her to marry me - she said "of course"

You can watch how the whole day unfolded in the video below…