Kate and Jason

Jason and I lived in the same dorm freshman and sophomore year of college. During one of the first nights that everyone was in the dorms, before classes began freshman year, everyone was playing games outside in the dark. Suddenly, some guy runs up behind my best friend and me to scare us! The guy was wearing a full morph suit so we couldn’t see his face, and my friend and I were definitely startled! Shortly after, we decided to go back inside, and on our way, we passed the guy who scared us carrying the morph suit. It turns out, that was Jason! Aside from that, we never really crossed paths freshman year, but during our sophomore year, we both took on leadership roles in the community. Jason’s position wound up leading to him working along side my best friend. Through that connection, we quickly started to get to know each other. This lead to late night chats, walks to class, and eventually our first date at a local frozen yogurt shop. The best part is, I didn’t realize the guy freshman year who scared me in the morph suit, was the same guy I was dating until a year or two later!!

In August of 2019, we went on vacation with Jason’s family as we had done every year since we started dating. While preparing for the trip, Jason ran into the photographer who took his middle and high school photos, Dawn Howeth, while going to the store to grab a few last minute vacation items. They caught up on life and Jason told Dawn about the ring he bought in July. She revealed that she was working on a photographer’s bucket list and one of the last remaining items on her list was a surprise proposal! Jason used this opportunity to tell me that Dawn was offering free couples pictures as a friendly gesture, leaving out the proposal aspect. Of course, I was excited because Jason and I are terrible at remembering to take pictures together and this was a great opportunity to get them taken. Fast forward to October and we have decided to make a trip to Virginia to see friends at a housewarming party near Washington DC. Jason used this opportunity to have Dawn meet us at Libbey Park in Richmond, VA. We spent the week before picking outfits that went well together, yet I was never certain he was planning a proposal. We got dressed the morning of the photoshoot and drove over to Libbey Park. I had my hopes up that this might be the day, but Jason didn’t appear nervous at all, so I was sure it wasn’t going to happen. We started by taking couples pictures all around the park, and then we did a few solo pictures of each of us. When we took the individual pictures, Jason went first. When it was my turn, Dawn took a few photos and then directed me to turn around. Being the goofy person I am, I looked around asking “Where? Which way?” As I turned, I realized that Jason had snuck up behind me and was down on one knee!! I was over the moon excited and couldn’t stop smiling. The ring blew me away! After taking a few engagement pictures, Jason and I began making our way to lunch. We decided to celebrate by going to Maggiano’s. Once we arrived, I was completely surprised to see both of our parents, and Jason’s sister there to greet us!! Jason so kindly planned for both of our families to come into town to celebrate with us! It was the most magical day!