Well once upon a time, a long long time ago.... or 15 years ago, (however you want to put it) Lane and I went to elementary school together. We didn't reconnect again until one day in college. Avoiding homework, I was scrolling through Instagram and Lane had just posted a picture. I thought to myself how handsome he was, so I did what any millennial does these days and I "slid into his DMs". From there, we texted, talked, and chatted for about 6 months until we decided to finally go on a first date. We had become close friends and I still to this day can not believe how comfortable we were on our first date and how it lasted almost 10 hours! We went to the aquarium, grabbed dinner, and decided to go bowling with some friends after not wanting the day to end. From then on, our relationship has continued to build stronger and our love for each other deeper. Finally (and yes I do mean finally), Lane decided to plan the greatest proposal of all time. We, of course, went to Disney World on August 5, 2017 and as always we wanted to go see the Festival of the Lion King (if you have not experienced it before, you must!). I, as clueless as I tend to be, did not even think twice when Lane made up the perfect excuse that we were getting reserved seats up front for the show because we had Nala, our service dog. I enjoyed the show as always. Nala, however, was not very fond of people on stilts, which caused Lane to be in and out of the show with her pretty much the whole time. Once the show was over, a cast member showed us out the backdoor before anyone else had a chance to leave. Again, I was thinking all of this was still because of Nala. Next thing I knew, we were meeting the costumed show performers and I was having a deep conversation about Atlanta with a fellow Georgian that was in the show; I turned around and Lane was on one knee! I had no words then and I still can not express how excited I am to spend forever with my Christopher Lane Blackwell.
As you read in Madelyn’s story, we went to elementary school together, but we didn't start talking again until college. After about 6 months of getting to know one another, we finally decided to go on our first date. Knowing this might be my only chance to impress her, I went a little above and beyond planning the date. This was the first time I truly did not want the day to end. I loved talking with her and she looked beautiful (of course still is). However, I loved the way we instantly connected the most and how completely ourselves we were with one another from the beginning. If you know me at all, you know how over the top I can be, and she completely embraced it. From then on, I knew she was the one. Once she graduated college, we moved to Orlando to start our lives together. I decided it was time to pop the question a few months after moving and I wanted to do something memorable. Of course, Disney was the first place that came to mind. After days of communicating back and forth with different departments, I finally got in touch with someone who could help and decided on proposing at Animal Kingdom. Of course, I chose something that had never been done before, so a lot of planning took place. This was the most nerve-racking thing I have ever done and I wanted this to be perfect. Once the show was over, we were immediately directed backstage behind the theater. Luckily, Madelyn was completely clueless and thought I had this set up for our friends who had never been to Disney before. The cast coming out was a complete blur and the only thing I could focus on was getting on one knee. Once Madelyn had received her flowers, our friends were ready to start videoing, and Nala had finally calmed down from the excitement, it was time for me to do what I had planned. It still feels like a blur, but here we are getting married a little over a year later! Even through everything we have been through and all that is yet to be, I will always be truly in love with you.