(As told by Michelle) We met through mutual friends at their engagement party. When I met Jonathan I knew there was something special about him. I could feel it. We didn't talk too much that night but not for Jonathan's lack of trying. We didn't see each other again for a few months. We ran into each other at a Halloween party where Jonathan was dressed as "Green Arrow" and I was went as "Thing 2". He pulled up a chair next to me at the table and stayed there the rest of the night. When the party was over we both went back to our friend's house. Jonathan didn't hesitate to hop in my car. He "unknowingly" left his phone in my car but I thought it was a sly move so he could ask for my phone number. He didn't ask for my number that night. We saw each other again one month later at a wedding. We both went by ourselves. This time, we started talking and didn't stop for hours. He finally asked me for my phone number but I didn't give it to him. I told him if he really wanted it, he would figure it out. A few hours later I got a text from him asking me to dinner. (As told by Jonathan) Michelle and I met at an engagement party for mutual friends. I saw her for the first time after we all crowded around for the engagement party piñata. The combination of her bright emerald green eyes, the elegance with which she carried herself, and the way she tucked her hair behind her ear had me hooked in an instant. In the wishful and non-sensical way that a 29 year old man talks with his friends about a beautiful girl, I turned to them and said, "That's her. That's the future Mrs. Blanco!" Of course, I pretended to be less serious than I was, in case I was rejected by my future bride. I introduced myself immediately and struck up a conversation with her every chance I got. There was a connection between us but she was very hard to read so I spent six months trying to charm her at every chance encounter until November 8, 2017 when she almost gave me her phone number.

(As told by Michelle) We had a trip to California planned for a wedding in July. It was about a five day trip. We had just moved into our new house and I knew I wanted pictures for the walls (which have yet to be hung - whoops) so I hired a friend for a quick session. Little did I know, Jonathan was hiding a ring this whole time. Our photos were the day before we were to fly back to Georgia. During our photo session I saw Jonathan setting up our Go-Pro but didn't think twice about it. I figured, he knows I'm a photographer and this is fun so maybe he wants to grab some behind the scenes stuff for me. He carried the Go-Pro bag over to where we we're and I was watching him fiddle with it and then I saw him take out the ring box (you can see that moment below). (As told by Jonathan) The hard part was keeping it a surprise. I wanted to tell her the moment I decided to propose, but I knew she wanted a traditional surprise proposal so I fought hard to make sure she got it. I carried the secret for over a month from when I bought the ring to when we flew out to California for her cousin's wedding. I found the perfect ring thanks to some good research and a keen ear. I also recalled that she once mentioned in passing that it was important to her for her future husband to keep the respectful tradition of asking her father for his blessing, so I made sure to do that as soon as the ring came in from the jeweler. Michelle planned a photo session for us while we were in Sacramento after the wedding, so I reached out to the photographer and consulted with her on where a great place to propose would be. The site we picked was small olive orchard and lavender farm just outside of Napa Valley. We toured a few wineries that day but we had a late start (thanks to Michelle not wanting to wake up) and had to eat Wendy's for dinner before the big proposal. After the happy tears and all of the excitement, we laughed about our romantic dinner at Wendy's.