October 2010
First Met
May 28th, 2011
Began Dating
May 10th, 2014
She Said “Yes!”
August 8th, 2015
We’ll Both Say “I do!”
The Proposal (How he asked!)
Sara Ames, At first we were friends, like all great relationships should start.
Then we began dating and quickly realized that we were meant for each other.
We have been on adventures to different cities, different states, and even different countries.
I want to continue those adventures with you for the rest of my life.
Sara Ames, will you marry me?
The Proposal (His Version)
Sara and I started dating shortly after our graduation from the University of Louisville, and over the past several years, our relationship grew into something very special. Convinced that we should be together forever, in January of 2014 I began searching for the perfect ring for the perfect proposal.
After visiting Genesis Diamonds with Sara, having her sized and talking to my family and boss I was recommended to From the Vault jewelers. From the Vault specializes in custom jewelry, so the discussion began finding the perfect center stone. Once found, the ring would then be custom designed to hold the chosen diamond based off of sketches and design elements from other rings. There were several iterations on the design before I felt like the 3D model of the ring was ready to be cast. I knew that Sara would love it.
However: making such an important decision didn’t come lightly! It took several weeks for the ring to be made, during which Sara and I were out of the country in Mexico on vacation. While this provided a good distraction for me, little did she know that I was putting the finishing touches on how I was going to propose to her.
The weekend following our return from Mexico, we went to visit Sara’s parents for Easter. I had called Sara’s Dad, Mike, earlier in the week to ask if he and I would be able to get away from Sara for a little while to be able to talk about something important. My plan was to take Mike to the Greyhound Tavern and ask for Sara’s hand in marriage. After several failed attempts at getting away from Sara, we eventually found about 5 minutes to go outside to the side of the house. Her Dad was concerned about why I called earlier in the week, Sara’s mom also came out to hear what I wanted to talk about. There I explained how much Sara meant to me, how much I loved her, and how I could not see my life without her. I then asked for their permission to marry Sara, to which they were delighted and immediately welcomed me to the family.
With her family’s permission, I finalized the plans for the proposal with Zach, my Best Man, for which I had been discussing the idea with for several weeks. After several iterations of Planning, I booked the balcony suite at the 21C Hotel (and began praying for the weather to hold). Zach and I batted around various ideas, but ultimately decided on a plan where I would somehow talk Sara into going up to the hotel room and walk her out to balcony where she would discover the canvas print of the two of us. While she was still in shock, I would then get on one knee and ask for her to marry me. What she didn’t realize is that we had also planned for her friends and family to come to the hotel for a surprise party!
The day of the proposal, I had the whole day planned for romance. We ate brunch at the Village Anchor, where we had our first date, and went to various locations in town. Finally, we returned home in the afternoon so Sara could prepare for the date night that she would never forget.
With the hotel room key safely in my wallet, and the ring in my suit jacket we headed downtown for dinner at Mortons Steakhouse. After a problem with the valet almost ruining the proposal and a dinner where Sara noted how quiet I had been throughout the day, we walked over to the 21C. I convinced her that we should walk through the whole hotel as I had heard there was artwork on every floor. We went to the fourth floor and I led her to the room and opened the door; as she walked in she noticed photo’s of us on the wall, a special bottle of bourbon, with a pair of monogrammed glasses and a door open with a photo of us under an umbrella outside on the patio.
I walked her outside, got down on one knee and the proposal went off without a hitch. Sara could barely contain her excitement and said “Yes!” After a phone call to her parents (who were standing on the street below) a steady stream of friends and family entered the room and Sara began crying.
It was an amazing evening and one that will truly never be forgotten.