How We Met
After both moving to Orange County, CA within six months of each other, Zac and I were introduced (and unknowingly set up on a semi-blind date) through mutual friends, shout out to the Tidwells! After an immediate connection, we danced the night away in Huntington Beach where we found ourselves ordering pizza with friends to end the night. Zac and I made a bet that if our pizza delivery drivers name started with an “E”, that he could take me out on a proper first date. As fate had it, our drivers name was Edgar (thank you Edgar), and we have been inseparable ever since. We spent the following weekend in Santa Barbara, where we quickly realized how much we were in fact falling for one another. The wedding ceremony will bring our story full circle, as it will be held at the estate where we spent that weekend learning all about one another & ultimately falling in love.
How They Asked
Zac flew out of bed around 5 AM, on a day when he did not have an early morning CAZ shift and started playing music, dancing, and laughing without a care in the world. If you know me (Grace), you know I was attempting to fall back asleep, but couldn’t help giving in and cracking a smile. Zac brought me coffee in bed, and we laughed and talked before I was off to work. I kissed him goodbye and left the house for the last time as a ‘single’ lady! In true Zac fashion, he had already called my boss and planned to have me sent home early (shout out to Krystle Dean for being the best secret keeper and playing along with his proposal scheme). To my knowledge, the plan for that evening was to surprise Zac’s mom, Lori, at dinner by having his brother, Wyatt, fly into town from college.
We set off for “dinner” at the Montage in Laguna Beach and from that point on life would never be the same. When we arrived, Zac told me that Wyatt’s flight was delayed and that they were going to have to stall before dinner. He suggested walking down to the beach where his sister, Cassidy, and her fiancé, Mike, were “taking pictures”. As we were walking down to the beach, it felt like an eternity of never-ending winds and turns along the beachfront path.
We finally made it to an open grassy cliffside that overlooked the ocean, and of course, I spotted the proposal setup from afar. I quickly grabbed Zac’s arm and said “Look! How cute! Somebody is getting engaged!” Zac didn’t say much, but he grinned and kept walking towards it. About 5 seconds later, I realized that the setup was for us and could hardly contain myself!
There was a long, white cloth laid on the ground that led up to a bench with a sign that read “MARRY ME”. There were candles and flowers of all kinds surrounding the setup, and to make things even better both of our families were hiding in the bushes and trees surrounding them!
Zac dropped to one knee, immediately bawling (sweetest guy ever), and asked for my hand in marriage. So many happy tears were shed, and after I said “yes” our families came running to embrace us as one!
