How We Met
I grew up in the town of Wake Forest, NC, which is where Jake and I first met. Jake was in town because he is in the North Carolina National Guard and his friends decided they wanted to go out for a few drinks. My friend and I decided we wanted to go out for drinks as well. Unwined on White is a small wine and beer bar in our town, so my friend and I decided that would be a perfect place to grab some drinks. We went on the rooftop and we saw a bunch of guys (Jake and his friends) watching the football game that was playing on the big screen. They were all under the heaters and it was the middle of January, so I was freezing. Jake asked me if I wanted to sit in his
seat since it was by the heater, and my stubborn self said “no, I’m okay thanks though.” I started shivering and he insisted I take his seat, so I finally agreed. We ended up talking the rest of the night. My ride was at the bar to pick me up and I was frantic because I didn’t think he was interested, so I just started walking out of the bar. Jake ran me down and asked for my number right before I walked out of the door; it felt like a movie scene. He texted me and told me it was nice to meet and then I never heard from him. About a month went by and he randomly reached out again. We started talking every day since then. I just knew there was something about him. It was history from there…
How They Asked
Jake and I went through a 14-month deployment, which was a lot harder than we would like to admit. However, when he got home we knew we wanted to get engaged once things settled down. We ended up buying a house and there always seemed to be stuff we needed to do for the house, so I knew engagement would be a little farther down the road, or so I thought…My best friend was visiting from Montana on the weekend of April 24th. About a month before coming to Wake Forest, she asked me if I wanted to go to Unwined on White so she could show her boyfriend around our hometown.
Little did I know, this was all Jake’s plan. I was so excited because Jake and I hadn’t been back to Unwined since the night we met, so it was an automatic yes for me. The day we were supposed to meet it was raining, which made me super bummed because I wanted to be able to sit on the rooftop bar where Jake and I met. When we got to Unwined, we were looking everywhere for my best friend, but we couldn’t find her. Jake said, “Why don’t we go look upstairs?” I was so confused because it was raining. We went up the stairs and I saw rose petals leading to Jake and I’s entire group of family and friends with a sign saying, “Will you marry me?” while one of our favorite songs was playing. I was completely and utterly shocked. Jake proposed at the exact spot we met years ago. I don’t really remember a lot of what he said because I was so in shock, but I know it made me cry happy tears. It was such an emotional moment not only for Jake and me but also for our entire group of family and friends.
I later found out Jake had been planning to propose for months. He had been talking to my family and close friends all along, planning the perfect proposal. It was a day Jake and I will never forget.
