After a few weeks of secretly eyeing her during choir practice, Chris finally introduced himself to Caroline in the church parking lot after a Nativity rehearsal. Little did he know, Caroline actually had a boyfriend at the time. A couple months after the initial introduction, Chris reached out to Caroline via Facebook, with a compliment about "holding down the soprano section," even though he now insists she's an alto. They continued talking, as Caroline convinced herself Chris was "just being friendly." Eventually, there came a period of stagnation that Chris refers to as ghosting, while Caroline just replies, "I had a boyfriend!" But Chris will never let her live down the time he offered to bring her some "from scratch" spaghetti in the middle of a pandemic. Once Caroline had *ahem* sorted out her personal life, the two continued talking and finally went on their first date, where Chris clearly laid out his intentions that he was "here for marriage" and that he wasn't interested in taking this any further if Caroline wasn't interested in that. But nearing the end of her 20's and ready for something serious, that was just the thing Caroline wanted to hear. They went on to discuss all the heavy hitting topics that very night and Chris invited Caroline to meet the extended Reeves family at his parent's 50th anniversary party less than a week later. Soon thereafter, the couple also went to visit Caroline's family in the hill country. Once they got the approval of those who really matter — most namely, the mommas — it was smooth sailing from there, and the rest is history!

The circumstances of the proposal started off a little rocky from the beginning, but what good proposal story doesn't involve any obstacles? You see, due to some bad timing (though not on the part of any particular person), Chris couldn't escape from Caroline to get the ring out of his mother's closet where he had been hiding it. When Chris was forced to leave the house without the ring, he scrambled to contact Caroline’s roommates, who were already scheduled to be at the proposal to take photos. After telling Caroline that they would be spending the day at an alpaca festival in Denton – if you know Caroline’s roommates, you know that this is not off brand, so while Caroline laughed a little, she didn’t bat an eye – Jackie & Janelle headed out to McKinney to retrieve the ring. Chris strategically sat Caroline facing away from the window at brunch & stealthily shared his location with the girls. After some stalling, a coffee break (which proved fortuitous), & a roundabout walk around the parking lot, the girls successfully snuck the ring into Caroline’s car. Eventually, the couple arrived at the Dallas Arboretum – the only activity of the day Caroline had actually been told about, & Chris slyly informed Caroline that she probably was not allowed to take her Starbucks in. She proceeded to gulp down the rest of her Venti caramel cream cold brew, noting that that meant she’d need to use the restroom on the way in. Little did she know, even her bathroom break was a part of Chris’s plan. The two walked around a little bit before heading to the predetermined proposal spot. As they looked out over Whiterock lake, Caroline had a fleeting thought, “what if I turn around right now & he’s on one knee – nah, I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.” They proceeded to stroll through the vegetable garden where Caroline announced, “You know, the arboretum is really pretty, but I don’t think I would ever want to do engagement photos here.” Though a little bit taken aback, Chris brushed it off & just thought, “well tough, cause this is about to happen.”

Finally, Chris & Caroline began making their way towards the designated bench. Unaware there was any sort of plan, Caroline thought they should make their way to the beautiful tulip fields up ahead, but Chris quickly redirected her down a different path. Meanwhile, the heavily disguised roommates were busy shooing people away from the proposal bench, “My friends are literally about to get engaged right here. Would you mind moving?” The couple safely arrived at the then empty bench, where they sat & gazed at the tulips & all the children running around on the hill. They talked & dreamed about one day having land like that with their own children to fill it. Then Chris proposed, “Hey, let’s take a selfie.” He took a few, both as a ruse to get the sunglasses off, but also knowing it would be their last photos as ‘just boyfriend & girlfriend’. He put his phone away, held both of Caroline’s hands, looked her deeply in the eyes & told her, “I want you to remember this moment.” “Is this what’s happening or is he just being cute?” she thought. Even as Chris started to get teary eyed, Caroline still wasn’t sure it was actually happening until he was down on one knee asking “Caroline Elizabeth Creasman, will you marry me?” & as Chris says, she said yes almost instantaneously, zero hesitation. After some brief situational amnesia about where the ring should go, the couple figured it out, got the ring on Caroline’s left hand, & then Chris pointed out the cameras in their faces, which Caroline hadn’t even noticed in the midst of everything. She exclaimed, “Aww, did you hire a photographer?” But as they lowered the cameras from their faces, Caroline could see it was her roommates & got even more excited that they were there. They all walked around for a little bit to get some photos, which Caroline ended up loving, & then Chris suggested they all go celebrate. Caroline thought it was a spur of the moment, just the four of them kind of thing, but when they walked in, there was a big group of their friends waiting there to surprise them. It was a perfect day, & the most important part — Caroline didn't know about any of these complications until after the proposal had taken place!