We’ve been engaged for two months and have just a month until we get married…so it’s about time I share the story of how Michael proposed!

I have to preface this post by saying that these photos were taken the day after he actually proposed to give you an idea of how everything looked and how special he made the proposal for us.

I was on a work trip in St. Louis taking photos of some dear friends of mine’s baby girl. On the second day of my trip, we took a tour of Busch Stadium (home of MLB team St. Louis Cardinals). If you know me, you know I’m not a sports person. I still enjoyed the tour, but after shooting a wedding, catching an early flight, shooting a birthday party and family session, I was so over everything, and quite honestly I wanted to just lay in bed and prop up my feet (looking back now, we all laugh at how crabby of a mood I was in this whole weekend).

I was with Tom and Lauren (the family I take photos for in St. Louis) at the bar across the street from the stadium after our tour. We grabbed a bite to eat then headed outside where a Kiss impersonation band was playing a small concert. We stood out there for about 30 minutes watching this band (Mind you, I’m not the biggest Kiss fan…and I don’t love large crowds and loud people) and I was so out of it.. I was actually texting Michael about how I just wanted to get to a bed ASAP and rest.

Next thing I know, Michael walks towards me from out of nowhere. I think I almost passed out. I couldn’t decide if it was him at first, or if I was so exhausted that I may have been hallucinating. It was almost like a scene in a soap opera where time stood still. But it was really him, and he was really walking up to me at a Kiss impersonation band concert in the middle of St. Louis before a Cardinals game. He had been coordinating with Tom and Lauren, and turns out the reason why we stood at this concert for so long was so that Michael had time to come get me (He was having car problems and was broke down on the interstate earlier on his way in, but that’s a whole other long story).

Since Michael and I are literally BFF’s who keep absolutely nothing from each other, he knew he’d have to propose when I was out of town so he could scheme it all up and truly surprise me. And he sure did. I had no idea he was on his way to St. Louis.

He didn’t say much when he walked up at the concert – he just gave me a hug and asked Tom and Lauren if he could borrow me for a while. I knew immediately what was happening. We walked about a mile to where Michael parked then he started driving to an Airbnb (and I had no idea where we were headed, he wouldn’t tell me!) On our walk to the car and the drive, I’m asking all the questions… why are you here? where are we going? can you carry me? can we stop and get some water? what are we doing? are you okay?

He’s frantically driving us to our Airbnb as his car is overheating.. and I’m over here about to have a panic attack because I’m so hot and confused. I’ll never forget that drive. It was super stormy looking, we had all windows rolled down to stay cool, I had my feet propped up on his dash, and we were both frantically watching the temperature gauge to make sure it didn’t go into the dreadful ‘red zone.’

We finally made it. I knew when he showed up at the concert that he was going to propose, but it was all so surprising. He took me inside, where everything was so cute and perfectly decorated. There were photos of all our memories strung everywhere, wine and special mugs out, the fridge was stocked full of my favorite foods, and the first thing I see through the doorway is a fireplace with twinkle lights and the ring box sitting out on the coffee table.

I got super distracted and started looking at all the photos and special things he had done for me. We walked into the living room and Michael had all of the letters, cards, special gifts, scrapbooks, and little notes that we’ve shared over the years laid out. He also took frames and other decor from my apartment and spread it around the Airbnb. It really felt so us and so homey. It was so sweet and special.

After I begged to sit on the couch and get a glass of water, Michael read a letter to me that shared how excited he was and how long we’ve waited for this moment, and now it’s finally here. He told me I had to stand up for what was next, so we stood in front of the fireplace and he got down on one knee. I don’t remember anything he said at that point, and I don’t think he does either. But he asked me to marry him and I immediately said yes and went down for a kiss and hug, completely ignoring the fact that THE RING WAS PERFECT… I jumped back up and actually saw the ring for the first time, then he tried to put it on my right finger on accident. LOL.

The next few minutes were pure bliss. Sharing the excitement, wondering what we should do next, wondering how the heck Michael would get home, and what we’d do about his overheating car, but mostly just so freakin pumped that this moment was finally the start of our lives together.. I am so happy that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend, who drives his broken car to St. Louis to surprise me on a work trip, and make such a special set up and time for our proposal.

Just an hour before Michael came to pick me up, he was working so hard to set all this up. He brought so many decorations and even stopped at the grocery to fill up the fridge. The rest of the night was kinda funny, because we had to go back to Tom and Lauren’s, but ended up breaking down in a mall parking lot and Ubering all around St. Louis. The next few hours and the morning after consisted of buying another plane ticket, parking Michael’s car in a Taco Bell parking lot and hoping it wasn’t towed, and rushing to the airport to catch our flights. But honestly it wouldn’t be our proposal story if his car didn’t break down (he’s had car problems ever since we started dating).

Long story short with the car, Michael ended up driving a rental car back a few days later to take his car to a scrapyard. We scrapped his car and have been sharing a car ever since we’ve been engaged…. So happy two months of sharing a car, happy one month until we’re married and probably still won’t have a new car, and happy forever we get to spend doing life together and laughing at all the silly and happy things that we share. I love him and our crazy adventures. 🙂

Also, huge shoutout to Deanna for hosting us at this adorable home on Airbnb.