How did it happen?


I knew for a long time that I wanted to marry Cass. Truly. From the first date, our conversations were so comfortable and familiar, it felt so natural. She’s my best friend and what could be better than spending your life with your best friend who you just so happen to find realllllly attractive? We had previous conversations about our future, both agreeing that after a certain amount of time, we’d have a discussion about where we were mentally and if we wanted to start planning for a future that included getting married. Obviously, we came to the conclusion that we knew we wanted to be with one another long term.


Now, I’ve been previously married and she was previously engaged so there was some debate about who would propose first. Ultimately, we decided that I would be the one proposing first because she was the one that asked me to be her girlfriend. And thus, the planning began.


After weeks of searching, I bought her ring at the beginning of April and started thinking about how best to propose to the person who I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I let important people know that I was planning on proposing by the end of 2026 and that I would keep them informed on the approximate time as to when it would be happening. I was looking back at our favorite memories and photos and came up with a pretty good idea… I asked her sister and brother-in-law if they would come up for the weekend to hang out and do a “promo session” for my photography business. I obviously told them that this would be a false pretense and that I planned to propose to Cass. They were ELATED and agreed to a little weekend adventure.


Now, when Cass and I have discussed dream proposals in the past (as all good gay women do), she had a few specifications I needed to follow. No big screens at events, do not put the ring in food, no flash mobs (bummer), and she wanted her close friends to be in the area but the proposal to be private between the two of us. That, combined with my photoshoot scheme, only led to one conclusion in my head: a picnic.


Why a picnic? I’m glad you asked. During our first year of dating, Cass wanted to do seasonal couples photos together and our first session in spring was picnic themed. Also, this allowed me to have a good photo spot next to a water feature (which she loves) and get away with it without too much question. Everything was going to plan. I had all the details ready and laid out, people have been invited and then… I almost blew it.


We had an event in the fall we had planned to go to and I suggested we do our engagement photos while we were in that area because it was a beautiful area. Unfortunately, that gave her an idea of the timeline of the proposal and she started to become suspicious of the picnic photo session that had been set up. SO I had to do some reorganizing of thought.


Fun fact: Cass has a winter birthday and is really bitter about it. She has always wanted a summer birthday party and so… I decided that the proposal would be layered and this is how it went:

Mirage #1: the picnic photoshoot

I doubled down on this but knew she was suspicious. Kerrin and Jacob came up and went along with this idea of a picnic photoshoot. Cass knew she would be helping behind the scenes and that we were going to take a few pictures of her as well and maybe a few of the both of us. This way, we both had to also get dressed up. Upon arriving at the elaborate picnic set up, our friend Allison was there helping set up and Cass assumed it was because she had also been enlisted to play model for the day. Cass made a comment about there being quite a few extra placemats, seemingly too much food, and had been joking all day asking me if this was a scheme to propose. I insisted it was not, even going so far as to say "oh that would have been so smart of me to do that today huh? I wish I would have thought of that" and assured her that proposing would happen later in the year. After a few photos, I had her look at me and told her that I had a confession to make…

Mirage #2: The birthday party

I texted her friends, who were all waiting patiently in the secondary parking lot, they could start walking over. I told Cass that she was right to be suspicious, not because it was a proposal but because I had been planning her dream birthday party in the summer. She turned around to see our friends Nick, Aly, Kenna, Cylie, and her cousin, Drake. She was so excited to see everyone and later told me that in this moment, she was also somewhat disappointed that it really wasn’t a proposal. We enjoyed some food and drinks with our friends and our friend Kenna, who had introduced us to one another, brought her camera and snapped some photos. I had told all involved to plan to say either something they loved about cass or their favorite memory with her. So we started going around, telling stories and hyping her up. I went last and wrote a few paragraphs about how much she meant to me but kept some stuff out for the next part of the plan…

Mirage #3: the present

This part of the plan was much less elaborate but it was a part of the plan nonetheless. I told Cass that I had one last gift for her but that she had to follow me, with her eyes closed, in order to get it. We walked over to a scenic area and while she had her eyes closed, I hid the ring box under the bottom of my long dress. I told her she could open her eyes and that I wanted to read her something I wrote. I started the first few lines, which rhymed, and she went “oh, you wrote a poem” and assumed I was just embarrassed to read a cheesy poem in front of the group. I kept reading and poured my heart out to the woman I loved. At the very end, I tossed my phone aside and stepped back to pick up and reveal the ring box.

Before I could deliver my last, and arguably most important, line. She started yelling “I knew it!” and some other very colorful expletives. She hugged and kissed me and I said “you didn’t even let me ask you!” and so she let me and said YES! Kenna took some proposal/engagement  pictures of us, which turned out so beautifully, and we spent the rest of the evening hanging out and celebrating with some of our friends.


The next day, we went out for ice cream all dressed up and Cass decided it was her turn. She had written a beautiful love letter to me and presented me with the ring she had also already gotten for me and proposed back. It was so sweet, so personal and vulnerable, and exactly what I wanted.


I couldn’t have asked for a better day or a better partner to spend my life with. I am so excited for our future, for our marriage, and for the hell of a party we’re gonna throw to celebrate it.



I love you, honey.

 

A note from Cass:


I want to thank those who could physically come, driving hours to be here from out of state, and helping pull off such a wonderful experience for me. And thank you to everyone on the planet who knew about this before I did FOR MONTHS ON ADVANCE and somehow was able to keep me from seriously catching on.


And to Morgan, my love, thank you for putting so much time, money, effort, and intention into a proposal. I feel your love radiate through me. I feel seen and known like never before. I am so excited to continue to laugh and grow and build our future life with riches and kids and cats. You are truly my best friend and soul mate, may it be written in the stars.