How We Met: The story of how we met isn’t nearly as exciting as our proposal story – we just used to work together. There was an instant attraction
how they asked: On January 25, Ben gave Kayla a homemade card telling her that in respect for her busy schedule, she should hold February 8 for a combined birthday and Valentine’s Day celebration. Before the big day, he provided instructions: wake up early and refreshed, have a big breakfast, dress comfortably without makeup, but pack a bag with a nice outfit and comfortable shoes and be ready to go by 10:30am. Kayla had many questions (Are we going hiking? Are we swimming? What about the weather?? What about her hair???), but he didn’t provide any more answers.
Ben picked Kayla up on the morning of February 8. He walked her into Aveda Salon, gave the receptionist her name, and told Kayla to be dressed and ready for him to pick her up at 3 pm. Kayla spent the next hour in the complete relaxation of a full body massage. After the massage, she was surprised to see Ben’s sister Amelia smiling back at her, with a lunch delivery! They sat and had lunch together until Kayla was called back for her next surprise appointment. Ben had also arranged for Kayla to have a facial and another hour of bliss.
After her facial, Kayla got dressed in the nice outfit and a pair of fancy new boots and returned to the lobby. She was shockingly ready a bit early, so Ben picked her up and told her that they had some “time to waste” before their next destination. It was a randomly beautiful 65 degrees, so they drove to Great Falls Park in Virginia. They walked along the slightly muddy path (while Kayla lamented “I TOLD you to tell me if we were hiking!”), until they reached a perfect spot overlooking one of the waterfalls.
Ben pulled out a gift for Kayla. It was a calendar that he designed especially for her, but she had to start in December and work her way backwards. Each month had a picture with special meaning to the two of them with the days of close friends and family member’s birthdays/special events highlighted.
When Kayla turned to February, the picture was of a small box with a beautiful ring in it and when she turned to look back at Ben, he was down on one knee!
Holding the ring from the picture and asking her to marry him! He says he was waiting forever for her to answer, which is possible because bystanders began to yell “OMG he’s proposing!! Say Yes!!!!” And of course she did.
Tears sprung to her eyes as they hugged, but Ben said “Wait, you can’t cry yet!” He turned and introduced her to Sara – the awesome photographer he hired to capture the moment! Ben & Kayla had their engagement photo shoot right there at the gorgeous falls.
Afterwards (yes, the surprises kept coming), her sister and best friends met up with them to celebrate and eat.
Kayla’s favorite part (if she had to choose) was how many details there were… even the ring fit! Just shows how thoughtful and intentional Ben and her best friends are.
Ben’s favorite part was that Kayla was completely surprised and that her reaction included her saying “I can’t believe that just happened. I’m sweating but I’m freezing, right now! I can’t even think!!” Kayla chooses to block that part out.
Photos by The Harty