How we became engaged.
The planning for this proposal started around January 10th. I knew I wanted to do a destination proposal, but where was the question. Finally, I settled on Oregon since Carlie has never been there and I really wanted to show her all the beauty that I have seen in this state. It's unreal up here. If you've never been, I highly suggest putting it on your next vacation list!
The next step was fooling Carlie into thinking she was flying somewhere for something. Her best friend Brianne came up with winning free concert tickets. We found out that iHeart Radio Awards show in Los Angeles was happening March 5th. This was a perfect fit for this trip since it landed during Carlie and Brianne's spring break. I photo shopped a "winning ticket" for iHeart Radio Awards for an all expenses paid trip to LA for two. Brianne told Carlie about it and Carlie bought it! The goal was to just get Carlie to the airport.
I already knew without a doubt who would be coming with to photograph this entire story happening and that is my best bud Ben Ramos! The dude is incredibly talented and such a loving friend to both of us. The three of us are so close and I couldn't imagine anyone else being behind the camera for these moments. All images below are photographed by Ben!
Skip ahead almost two months from the start and I've got the ring, I've told my parents and her parents and about a million other people because it was too exciting to keep to myself! Ben was in town to second shoot a wedding with me on March 4th, the same day Carlie and Brianne fly out to "Los Angeles" aka Portland, Oregon. Ben and I dropped them off at the airport and Carlie got her first letter that I had wrote since I knew she would be grilling Brianne on why their plane tickets said Portland rather than Los Angeles. In short the letter said how much I love Carlie and how she deserves a girl's trip with her bestie for spring break. Carlie had no freakin' clue still that I would be proposing on March 6th (Monday).
Carlie and Brianne shopped all day Saturday while Ben and I shot a wedding in Omaha. Ben and I flew out Sunday morning for Portland. We hiked Wahclella Falls right after hopping off the plane. I wanted to make sure the hike was safe and scope out exactly where I would be getting down on one knee for Carlie to ask her the big Q. The hike was solid and we planned exactly what would happen once they arrived at the falls. That same night (Sunday) Carlie got the second letter, which explained she wouldn't be heading home in the morning. She would be staying in Oregon through Saturday and I explained that they would be doing a hike Monday morning, what to wear, and that they would be checking out of the hotel. Carlie still wasn't completely sure what was happening.
Good old’ Monday morning rolled around and Ben and I hit the road to get to the trailhead. We got there about 30 minutes before Carlie and Brianne did. Brianne was informing me how far out they were so that Ben and I could start the hike before they arrived. Carlie still didn't know Brianne was texting me and coordinating all of this. Ben and I lifted an incredibly heavy log in order for it to be easier for Carlie to walk out to the rocky spot that was surrounded by water. We waited while giggling an insane amount and the wait only brought an insane amount of anxiety!
Finally in the distance we could see them walking up top along the trail. I scurried down to the bottom of the rocks and awaited Carlie. She finally knew at this point what was happening. I held her hand along the way while we skipped from rock to rock to make it out to the spot. I hugged her. I kissed her. We smiled harder than we ever have. I told her that I had been waiting for this moment since the day I fell in love with her. I let her know that she is the definition of my happiness and that I couldn't imagine doing life without her. Tears filled her eyes and I took a deep breath to take it all in. As we stood there hand in hand with the rush of the falls blasting and misting all over us, I kneeled and asked Carlie to marry me. She said yes.
Ben and Brianne joined us on the rocks while we all screamed, celebrated, and hugged each other.
Checkout the video of it all going down at the bottom of the page.
Forever never looked so good.
