How We Met
Josh: We have dated for seven years and just celebrated our seventh year anniversary on September 4th, two days after our engagement! We have known each other since middle school which is just over 10 years now. In 8th grade, Maci really caught my eye and so I decided to get her number from a mutual friend. At the time, she had a boyfriend of 2 years but I thought “what the heck”let’s just go for it. I texted her the same day and to my surprise, she responded.
Maci: Josh and I started talking in junior high when we were 14 years old. At the time I had a boyfriend and Josh was a bit of a “player” when it came to girls. He kept pursuing me and after a while when my boyfriend and I broke up, I decided to give him a shot. We started out as friends but we quickly knew there was more there. We now cherish the fact that we have been able to know each other so long and spend so much of our lives together. We are truly best friends and we always tell people that being best friends with your soul mate is the secret to the best relationship.
how they asked
Josh’s Version: Six months before what would be the date of our engagement I found out that there was a condo for sale in downtown Fayetteville that had 7 total balconies that all overlooked a different view of the city. The top balcony was one that overlooked all of Fayetteville with 360-degree views. I thought to myself “if there is any way to propose to Maci up there, I would love to make that happen.” I decided that I could get all of the families in town for the long Labor Day weekend which worked out perfect because our anniversary was that following Tuesday. I decided that September 2nd, 2018 would be the best day to propose, giving me the most believable story to tell Maci. I reached out to the listing agent to see if there was any way he could get me in the condo right before sunset for a proposal on the 2nd. At the same time, I was also already booking our photographer, April Walsh (@freckledfoxphotography).
We worked together to determine the exact perfect time to capture the sunset during the proposal. Two weeks out from the 2nd, the listing agent gave me the call that we were going to be able to get in at sunset. Over those 2 weeks we devised a plan that would be totally believable to Maci, I ordered cake and arranged arrival times with both of our families. The day of, I was super nervous and couldn’t wait to just get down on one knee and ask Maci to be mine forever. The plan was executed perfectly and Maci had no clue anything was happening. September 2nd, 2018 will definitely be a day we always remember and having April there to capture it all was amazing.
Maci’s Version: The day of our engagement will be one of the best days of my life. It started out as a typical day for us. We went to church, ate brunch, did some shopping, went on a walk, and ended our night at one of our favorite restaurants, Pesto Cafe. We were celebrating our anniversary two days early so we would have the long labor day weekend to enjoy it. Josh had mentioned that there was a really cool condo in downtown that he wanted to show me after dinner. This is a very typical outing for us to make since Josh is a realtor, so I didn’t think anything of it.
He also explained how there would be a photographer taking pictures of the unit at the same time, but that wouldn’t be an issue. After the tour of the unit, Josh and I went up on the roof and looked at the sunset. He then began to begin a more serious conversation about our future. I soon realized what was happening and at that moment he got down on one knee! The moment could not have been more special. April captured so many amazing moments of us together that I will cherish forever. After our time on the roof, we went back inside to find our family waiting to surprise us with cake and presents. I am so thankful for every detail that Josh thought through to make our engagement more than I could’ve ever imagined it.
