We had been dating for three years when Brian decided to be traditional and get my dad’s blessing before asking for my hand in marriage. What I didn’t know was while I was on a work trip to Florida with my mom, Brian and my dad had secretly planned to fly out to Florida to turn our work trip into a mini-vacation to Pensacola.

If you know Brian and me, you know that we do everything together and are practically joined at the hip most days. I was in total shock when I got the call that I needed to head to the airport to pick them up because they had just landed (and were hungry, of course)!

Three magical days went by where we enjoyed a little paradise and some much-needed rest. It was the last night we were there and Brian offered to take me for a walk on the beach (it’s one of my favorite things to do and there was a full moon)!

We started walking towards the side of the beach that had a long, fish pier and he asked if I wanted to check out the pier to see what the locals were catching while night fishing. So we made our way to the pier.

We weren’t allowed on the pier unfortunately because I wasn’t wearing shoes (who likes wearing shoes while walking on the beach?) so I offered to just turn back to head back to the hotel but Brian was persistent and convinced me to get a pair of shoes at the local bait shop (a size too small that I refuse to get rid of even to this day).

We make our way to the entrance of the pier and finally get to pay and get in. We walk the entire length of the pier, enjoying the night just watching people catch fish. Unfortunately, it smelled because we were standing right next to a dead fish so I asked if we could head back to the hotel.

I turned my back to get a bit of fresh air (away from the stench) and as I turned back around, Brian was holding a ring and smiling at me. I remember every detail of that day down to the exact words he said. “Would you like to put this on?” It didn’t sink in with Brian that he had proposed next to the dead fish until after the tears, the smiles, the hugs, and kisses were done.

The little details (even the gross ones) show how every love story is truly one of a kind. We want to make sure that we capture that uniqueness through photographs and films to pass down for generations.