We're getting married!

A junior in high school sitting in her AP Lang class, Makayla had just moved to Richmond Hill, GA. Mrs. Turner, her teacher, had just split the class into groups for book clubs. When Makayla found her group, she saw the most handsome guy ever: Braden! Over the course of their junior year, Makayla and Braden quickly became good friends and found they had a ton of similar interests! They both agreed pizza rolls were the best food and books were the best past time. After almost a year of being friends, Braden asked Makayla to be his girlfriend on September 30th, 2016! They quickly fell in love through their Chinese food delivery dates (Braden was a delivery boy), car hangouts before and after school, and supporting one another by attending each other's sporting events. After high school, Makayla and Braden both went to college in Atlanta, only being 10 minutes apart from each other. Here, they fostered their relationship through volunteering at church, going on Piedmont Park dates, babysitting for friends, and staying up late playing World of Warcraft. They have come such a long way since being juniors in high school and are beyond excited to celebrate with you!

Braden, a few days before the proposal, exclaimed that we need to go to Collin’s Quarter in downtown Savannah, all his family had been recently, but we hadn’t. For the next couple of days, I was excited about our date but didn’t think anything of it. That day after work, he picked me up, and we drove to downtown. When we got out of the car, Braden gave me this radiant smile that made me slightly suspicious of what we were about to do, but I brushed it off. As we were walking to the restaurant, we walked through a square that we had seen before, and I turned to point at the statue, but I was holding Braden’s hand. He let go of my hand, and as I turned around to look at him, I saw him fumbling in his pockets, and he pulled something out. The ring box was skinny and discrete, so it took me a second to realize what was happening. Braden kneeled on one knee and proposed! I said yes (of course)! Maddy, my sister, and her boyfriend, Chandler, were there to take photos and video of the whole thing. After Braden and I walked to Collin’s Quarter for dinner only to find it closed! In the excitement, Braden forgot to check if the restaurant was open, so we went to Chick-fil-A for dinner to celebrate the proposal! After we went to show our families and it was the happiest day of my life!

Saturday, 10 days before the proposal, I took Makayla to go look at rings and settings that she liked. We spent a few hours perusing their collection, and over the course of our time there Makayla narrowed it down to two settings that she loved. I knew that I wanted to buy her one of those settings and a diamond to place in it, but there was one problem: Makayla and I spend most days together and tell each other everything we do. There was no way I was going to find time to go look at diamonds and buy one without making Makayla suspicious, but then her aunt Jessi came to the rescue! She asked Makayla to come babysit in Atlanta for the entire next week, giving me a chance to accomplish everything I needed to do while she was away for a week. While she was gone, thanks to the excellent help and advice from my amazing mother, I managed to ask her dad for her hand in marriage, buy a diamond, and scope out places to propose. I looked at a few places in downtown Savannah, but nothing stood out to me until I came to Wright Square. For some reason, the greenery and atmosphere of the square instantly told me that this was the right place. I knew, however, that I couldn't just bring Makayla downtown to the square without her being suspicious. We hardly ever just wander around downtown. So I plotted. I took her downtown to wander around on a nice date and even "accidentally" walked us through Wright Square one evening just to throw her off. Before I knew it, it was Saturday, the ring was ready to go, and I knew I wanted to propose soon. Makayla wanted her sister Maddy to take pictures for the proposal, but Maddy was going to go on vacation on Wednesday, so I planned to do it three days later: Tuesday. Come Tuesday evening, I told her we were going to eat at Collin's Quarter. I intentionally parked so that we would have to walk through Wright Square on the way to dinner. On the way, I knelt down in the square and proposed! She said yes, and the rest is history.