It has been a tradition of Nicole's family to go to the beach every year from Christmas Day to New Year's Day. Her whole mother's side would come down for the trip, and the cousins would often bring friends to join in the fun! On this particular year, Wade, one of Nicole's cousins, brought down his friend Sean. Nicole and Sean started talking, but ended up going their separate ways and eventually separate colleges. Flash-forward to 2017, when Wade was graduating from college, and both Sean and Nicole were invited to celebrate. The two reconnected, and they picked up right where they'd left off all those years ago. The rest, shall we say, is history...

Just one week after Sean's birthday, he decided to surprise Nicole on a trip to her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina with the ruse of a continued birthday celebration. However, Sean did all of the planning for this trip which made Nicole suspicious. When the two arrived in Charleston at their hotel, they began to relax from the car ride when Sean announced "We'll be driving to a pretty scenic area I heard about, another hour and a half away". Nicole thought he was joking, but when he remained serious her suspicions intensified. The whole car ride to Edisto Beach, Sean was acting strangely nervous. Nicole kept asking if he was alright, and though Sean kept saying yes she still wasn't sure. When they did arrive at the beach, a sense of calm took over, and Sean brought out stuff for a picnic with wine on the beach - the picture of romance! The sun was setting and the mood was set. Little did Nicole know that Sean's good friend Daniel was hiding in the bushes to capture the moment that Nicole said "Yes" to Sean's proposal. The two were overjoyed on the car ride back to the hotel and called their closest friends and family. The happy couple enjoyed dinner on the water, and reminiscing the sunset photographs. The romantic gestures did not stop there! Sean arranged the whole next morning to be a photoshoot of the newly engaged couple! And later that night, Sean surprised Nicole with her family and his coming to Charleston to celebrate the weekend as a soon-to-be-joined family. It was a weekend of celebration, and the two could not be happier to begin planning their lives together.