how they asked: Our first date two years ago was over Skype when I was studying abroad in London, and Austen had planned a virtual tour of Seattle. He had sent me a lantern that I set off in my backyard to end the date. On Valentine’s Day this year, he surprised me with a plan to reenact our first date in person. It ended at Gasworks park with us setting off a lantern, and when I turned around there were 40-50 other lanterns floating in the sky that my hidden friends and family had lit. With the backdrop of the Seattle skyline lit by floating lanterns, I burst into tears as he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him.
Photography by Stuart Westmorland