Taylor and I first met at our mutual friends house in 2019. We didnt see each other again until 2020 when my new work friend, Ana, invited me to hang out with her friends on Memorial Day weekend at Taylors parents house. Over the next several months, I spent a lot of time with their group of friends and got to know Taylor better.
In February of 2021, a group of us went to wineries in North Georgia one Saturday. My roommate at the time, Sarah, had to leave unexpectedly, so I ended up riding back to Gainesville with Taylor. He told me that he was interested in being more than friends (which I already knew), and we slowly got to know each other better and started going on dates. Our first date was on March 9th at the Cheesecake Factory because he had to pick up a groomsman suit next door at Mens Warehouse. We now have a tradition of going to the Cheesecake Factory every March 9th.
He asked me to be his girlfriend on May 20th. Then, he asked me to go to Disney with him that July. That was the first of many fun adventures weve had together. From that day forward, I always knew that we would get married one day. Weve already had some of the best experiences over the last three years, and I cannot imagine life without him by my side. I am so excited for this season of engagement and for all thats to come!
When I knew I wanted to propose to Abigail, I realized that it wasn't going to be easy. Anyone that knows her knows that she is a planner and schedules everything, so surprising her is almost impossible. In October of 2023, Abigail and I, along with our friends Alan and Rachel, took a weekend trip to Hotel Hartness in Greenville, South Carolina. During that wonderful weekend at Hartness, Abigail said to me, "Wouldn't this be a great place to have a wedding?" I asked her about Yonah Mountain Vineyards because I knew that's where her heart was set on getting married ever since we met. She said that Yonah was her dream venue, so I didn't have to worry about that changing. However, I knew that Hartness needed to be part of our story. I started scheming my grand plan as soon we got home. At the beginning of the new year, I looked into reservations at Hartness for the weekend after Valentine's Day. I asked her parents for their blessing and had the ring the following day. One thing you should know about us is that neither of us like a lot of attention. She asked me that whenever I was going to ask her that she didn't want anyone else to be around. Well, I knew that our families needed to be there and that I needed help from our friends to pull it off. I secretly made reservations at the hotel for our families and friends as well. To get Abigail to go on trip that she didn't plan or have any input on is what we call Mission Impossible. The story was the "boys" (Alan, Stanton, and myself) were taking the "girls" (Rachel, Ana, and Abigail) to Hartness for the weekend as their Valentine's Day gift. She bought it and didn't have any questions! She was more shocked that "we" had planned something without the girls help. After showing her the itinerary she had questions and asked why we were checking in later than normal, why brunch was at a certain time, and why we were eating dinner so early. To make sure she wasn't getting suspicious, I had to change some of the times. Brunch reservations were in downtown Greenville so that we would be far away from the hotel to give everyone else time to check in and hide before we arrived. I stalled us downtown as long as I could before she was starting to get impatient and wanted to check in. I was running out of ideas until Ana and Rachel suggested they go shoe shopping. That idea bought us some more time until I got the word that everyone was checked in and hidden in their rooms. When we were finally on our way to the hotel, Abigail started to worry that she packed the wrong outfit for dinner, and that because we were getting to the hotel later than normal, we would be rushing ourselves and might get to our dinner reservation late. She told me that what she hates most is "being rushed and being late." This is exactly what I was doing to her to throw her off the suspicions of what was really going on. She was getting a little frustrated and said jokingly to me right before we pulled into the parking lot, "You better not be proposing to me because I'm not prepared for it!" I denied over and over again that it wasn't happening and that I wouldn't be able to do it without her figuring it out. I started to panic because I thought she saw right through me. I asked everyone to park far away from the front door so she wouldn't recognize the cars. I was going to park in a unloading zone so that I would have to come back out to move the car and grab the ring. We got checked in and got the bags to the room when I said I needed to move the car and would be right back. I told her to start getting ready for dinner so we could grab a drink before our reservation. She said, "I'm good. I'll get ready later when we get back from moving the car." My plan to get the ring backfired and she wouldn't let me go alone. Luckily she didn't see anyone's car while we parked but I had to leave the ring in the car. I sent an SOS to Alan and Stanton and asked them to come up with an excuse to get me out of the room. I told Abigail that the guys wanted me to meet them at the bar in 10 minutes once we got back to the room. I was able to get the ring out of the car but couldn't bring it back to the room with me without risk of Abigail seeing it. So I had to leave it with Alan and Stanton. Once I got back to the room, I could tell that Abigail was starting to figure out that something might be going on. I told her that we needed to start getting ready for dinner because we had planned on getting a drink before. I sent another SOS out to Ana and Rachel that she might be starting to figure it out. They were able to convince her that nothing weird was happening and that the girls should get ready together. They came to the room and kicked me out so they could help get her ready. At this point, I was convinced that she figured it out and the surprise was ruined. I had all our "surprise guests" gather in the conference room to hide and watch the proposal from the windows overlooking the courtyard. I went to greet them and tell them that she was smart enough to figure it out, but she didn't have a clue about them being there. I met up with Alan and Stanton in the bar to get the ring and wait for the girls. I told them as we waited that I was sure she knew about it and that I was a little bummed out. However, when the girls came around the corner, I could see that Abigail was clueless about the proposal and what was about to happen. My plan had worked and I was about to pull off the greatest surprise of her life. Everyone was in place, from the hidden photographer and special guests, to the hotel staff who kept the courtyard clear and blocked off from other guests. We started to walk through the courtyard to the restaurant when I started to slow down and fall to the back of the group. I pulled us over to the middle of the courtyard and started explaining to Abigail what was happening. Once I started, the photographer came out of hiding to capture the moment. After I was finally able to get it together and ask her if she would be my forever, and once she said yes, our family and friends came out of hiding and surprised her as well. After all the tears, love, and hugs, we all had dinner together and celebrated as one big family. It was a perfect day filled with perfect moments of love and memories that we will cherish forever.