Caitlin and Nick live in Kansas City and were planning a weekend trip to Jupiter to tour wedding venues when they contacted me about doing an engagement session. From the first few emails we exchanged I knew these two were special. Not only are they the sweetest couple, they are so madly in love that it reflects in every gesture and word exchanged between them. They also have a proposal story to rival any 90s romantic movie or Nicholas Sparks novel! I’ll try to summarize the story Cailtin gave me in their Couples Questionnaire. Like any couple in love, they knew they wanted to share their lives together. They talked about marriage, starting a family, etc. They even looked at rings together. Caitlin, in short, knew it was coming! But they lived together which made a “surprise proposal” unlikely, or at least that’s what Caitlin thought. What she didn’t know was that Nick spent months in 2018 preparing the perfect engagement, coordinating with family members, secretly driving to see their parents to show off the ring and ask Caitlin’s dad for permission to marry her. Fast-forward to the holidays and Caitlin’s sister Brianna came to town for “work” and asked to crash on their couch. One rainy morning, Nick said he had plans and that Caitlin should “take advantage of making holiday memories” with her sister, who wanted to go to downtown Kansas City and take cute pictures for her Instagram. Reluctantly, Caitlin got ready for a day of shopping and their little photoshoot, despite the rain.

Meanwhile Caitlin had been convinced up until this point that they would be getting engaged this year, but she was starting to have doubts. She text her best-friend Arielle in Chicago that same day about how she was pretty sure she and Nick were not getting engaged this year. Arielle, who is a wedding photographer, replied with words about being patient, and that “Nick loved her and it would all work out”. Little did Caitlin know that she was texting her from a hotel less than 5 minutes from their house! Nick called the girls several hours later to check in on them and suggested they “take Brianna to Crown Center in downtown Kansas City to show her the Mayor’s Christmas Tree, go ice skating and grab something to eat.” Caitlin agreed and she and her sister headed to the ice rink.

I’ll let Caitlin finish the story now: “When Brianna and I walked out towards the ice rink at the Crown Center, it had stopped raining and being a popular holiday destination, people where everywhere. I tried calling Nick to meet up with him. He said he was standing by the Ice Rink and hung up. I looked up and I didn’t see Nick, but saw his brother, sister-in-law and our niece standing behind a tree of several trees lining the path beside the Mayor’s giant Christmas tree. They live in Iowa and I was not expecting to see them standing there. I looked at my sister and burst into tears, and immediately felt like Michael Scott in the fire drill episode… “It’s happening, it’s happening”. I walked up and our almost 2 year old niece, Olivia and she handed me an envelope. I hugged each of them, with tears flowing. They pointed for me to continue to the next tree, where I was greeted by Nick’s parents, also from Iowa who hugged me and gave me an envelope and pointed to the next tree. Behind the next tree, my parents were waiting with an envelope containing the photo of when Nick showed my parents the ring! Each envelope documented different parts of our relationship. Nick then walked out from around a giant nutcracker, where he proceeded to get down on one knee and ask me to spend the rest of my life with him! The whole square clapped, music began to play and it was truly the most magical night of my life. He then pointed for me to smile at Arielle, who had been secretly capturing the whole thing! We spent the night celebrating with our families at Maggianos- Nick’s favorite restaurant and one that is meaningful to several dates we have been on! We laughed and everyone spilled their secrets they had all been keeping from me for months! December will always be one to remember. December 1st, Nick made me the happiest woman in the world by asking me to be his wife!”

If that’s that the cutest story ever I don’t know what is!