10 years in the making...

Brooke and Zach were introduced through a mutual friend during Memorial Day Weekend of their eighth grade year. They spent the entire summer developing their friendship through texting, MySpace chats, and late night phone calls. Eventually, the two met in person at their local movie theater in Vacaville. It was the day after they started high school and Zach made it very clear they were going as "just friends". To this day, the two cannot remember what movie they saw, BUT what they do remember is after meeting...they knew they wanted to be together. One week later, they began dating and now, exactly 10 years later - they'll be getting married.

Anyone who knows Brooke, knows she's incredibly hard to surprise. So, when Zach was in the midst of planning the proposal, he knew it had to be when Brooke least expected it... The Christmas prior to the proposal, Brooke's brother Buck, gifted her a trip to visit him in Santa Monica for a weekend. They decided Brooke would visit during Memorial Day Weekend since it was a few days before her birthday. Considering this was supposed to be a solo trip for Brooke, Zach knew it would be the perfect opportunity to pop the question. Buck and Zach joined forces to develop the "plan" while Brooke's college "suite mate", Katie and her husband Kevin, made sure Zach arrived SoCal without Brooke knowing. Buck informed Brooke he had the entire weekend planned with activities. He suggested Brooke invite Katie and Kevin to meet up with them on Sunday, since what he had planned would be "general fun for anyone". (Of course, everyone was in on the plan at this point.) When Sunday arrived, the group met at the beautiful Getty Villa. After 20 minutes of admiring the Villa's beauty, they approached a fountain surrounded by an immaculate rose garden. The group took a few photos and Kevin (their personal photographer for the day) suggested to do a few solo shots of Brooke. One hair flip later, Brooke was distracted by a blue hue that seemed a little close for comfort (HAHA). As she looked over her left shoulder - there he was. Down on one knee, with one velvet box, and one question later - she said YES!