We're getting married!

In an almost post-COVID world, it was difficult to find people the "old-fashioned way" out in the world. Stephanie decides to download a dating app to get herself out there after realizing life is too short to sit around waiting. Doug downloaded the same app because his friends talked him into it and he thought it would be good for him. He also downloaded it with the hope of finding “the love of his life.” After swiping through all the bad ones they found each other, the good ones. Doug breaks the ice by asking about breakfast favorites as Stephanie said she loved breakfast for dinner. Doug mentions to Stephanie that he lives in Naples, meanwhile, Stephanie lived in Orlando at the time. Which makes Stephanie think "Well I will never meet this guy in person.” Within the same conversation a first date was set for not even a week later. Doug picks Nona Blue in Orlando as the place to meet. A golf-themed restaurant bar. Stephanie being unaware of how much golf means to Doug, later realizes this makes a lot of sense that he chose this place. They talked for hours about attending the same college (FGCU) and bonded over working in the country club industry. They left the first date feeling good about each other. Stephanie wonders if or when she will ever see Doug again as he lives almost 3 hours away. Doug shows his commitment and determination to make this work by driving from Naples to Orlando almost every weekend following that date. The rest is history!

A month prior to proposing, Doug started dropping a few hints to Stephanie that something was going on. He would ask "When are you getting your nails done again?" and say "Don't plan anything this weekend because we are spending time together". Lightbulbs are going off and Stephanie had a strong feeling as to what was going on. March 23 rolls around and Stephanie still has no idea what the plan is for the weekend. For those of you who know Stephanie know that she likes to be in the loop of what is going on to be able to plan accordingly. She was telling friends that she thought this was going to happen and no one said anything. She asks her mom if she would tell her at least what to wear or bring. No help was given. Stephanie finally gets a bit of information from Doug to wear a dress for dinner and pack an overnight bag. This confirms all her thoughts that this could be the time! Doug comes home from work and tells Stephanie it's time to go. Stephanie tries to guess where they are going on the drive. She jokingly guesses the Naples Zoo or the Coastland Mall. Doug keeps driving and heads to Lowdermilk Park Beach to "watch the sunset." They get out of the car and start to walk down the beach past the crowds of people. They find an open area to take in the view. Doug stalls for a minute then finally says the real reason they were there. He gets down on one knee and asks Stephanie to marry him. Stephanie immediately says yes! After putting the ring on Stephanie's finger, Doug waves to his friends who were there to capture this special moment for them. He knew that having pictures was important for Stephanie. Once it settled in that they were engaged they were off to Marco Island to spend the night at the JW Marriott to celebrate being newly engaged!