How We Met
Evan and I met as undergraduates at Howard University during the Spring of 2015. A mutual friend invited me to a graduation day party hosted off-campus. When I walked through the door I was greeted by a young man who was eager to introduce himself to me as the host of the party. The party went on and we spent every minute enjoying each other’s company. At the end of the night, we exchanged numbers and have been together ever since.
How They Asked
Ashley: For me, the proposal started months before he actually popped the question… On Valentine’s Day 2019 Evan gifted us round-trip tickets to Paris departing the upcoming summer. I had never been before, but, since I was a child, I dreamed of eating biscotti & crepes and getting lost in the ‘city of love’ on the back of a strange Frenchman’s Vespa. I spent the next few months planning every minute detail of our trip—I am, after all, a ‘professional’ event planner (who can’t help herself)—including our stay at The Pullman Hotel and a dreamy dinner at the legendary L’Homme, both facing the jewel of the city, the Eiffel Tower. I had recited bits and pieces of this dream over the years to Evan, and to my surprise, he weaved together his own perfect surprise day (with multiple stops!) culminating in the pièce de résistance, a magical proposal I will treasure forever.
Evan: When Ashley and I arrived in Paris I immediately tasked myself with finding a photographer to capture the moment I’ve been planning for over a year: proclaiming my undying love to my girlfriend of almost four years. After taking her to the famous Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, enjoying a nice picnic of wine and cheese, and taking a stroll to the top of the park, the Temple de la Sibylle, we luckily stumbled upon a photographer.
Kay who unbeknownst to us is an award-winning, International photographer, was able to clear her schedule the next morning upon hearing the surprise I had planned for Ashley. After I secured the photographer I was able to throw Ashley off the scent, under the ruse that I wanted us to commemorate our trip to Paris with a professional shoot. The very next morning outside of Trocadéro, I positioned my girlfriend, soon to be wife, for the perfect shot, her back facing me. With one jewel in my pocket and the jewel of Paris in the distance, I got down on one knee and asked one very important question… she said yes.
