It’s white sand, beachy proposal story for Courtney & Parker in Destin Florida!! Parker flew in their beloved photographer, Madison Katlin Photography, who waited in the distance until the exact moment that a beautiful proposal went down. Also watching from a bird’s eye view were both the bride and groom to be’s families….awwww!
Read more about how they met, and how they plan to celebrate their wedding day below
How did you guys meet?
We met our very first week of college at the University of Arkansas. We had mutual friends who introduced us outside our college dorm where we lived on the same floor. We quickly grew into a tight-knit group of friends and all spent a lot of time together! We were just friends all of our freshman year and hung out in groups, in the study room for late night cram sessions, or grabbing Chipotle when the rest of our friends were out of town… Which ended poorly because my car got booted and I cried because it was $300 and Parker was so uncomfortable with me crying hahaha. Through the years we have had so many people ask us what changed from just being friends to dating and we really don’t have the answer! We kept in touch the summer after freshman year and then when we came back for our sophomore year we started talking more and going to function dates together. Which had all of our friends gossiping about what was going on between us and next thing we know we were saying let’s be official in Dec of that year!
What was the moment in which you realized you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your S/O?
Parker – I don’t think I have an exact moment in which I realized but I knew fairly quick. About four months into us dating we were on a riverboat in Memphis and that’s when I told Courtney that I saw us still being together 5 years from that moment and that I could see myself with her forever.
Courtney- I truly can’t put my finger on an exact moment either. I think that’s because we already had such a good friendship that everything was so natural and we fit together so perfectly. Pretty much from the start I never saw an ending to the relationship and quickly knew that I loved him and had to be careful to not accidentally say it in casual conversation haha.
How did the proposal go down?
Parker – My family and I have gone to Seaside, FL every year since I was 9. Courtney has joined in with us the last couple of years and we had planned to go again in October of 2018. In April we had a trip planned to St. Louis to see her family, where I asked her parents for permission and also presented the idea of them surprising her in Seaside for the proposal. So with both of our families, we spent the next 5-6 months planning the engagement and how to get away with the surprise! Long story short, we had to make up a lot of little lies throughout the week to keep Courtney out of the loop. We had gotten dressed up for a nicer dinner that night and Courtney and I were going down to the beach to “ask someone to take our picture” since we looked nice. I had planned with Madison to be on the beach before sunset so she could follow us down the beach and take pictures during the proposal. During this time both of our families were able to watch from a distance and after I got down on my knee and asked her to be my wife they all came to the beach and were able to surprise Courtney!
What are you most excited about this upcoming season?
We are most excited about just getting to enjoy this phase of life! Being engaged is such a fun stage and we want to live in the moment and have a blast during this time before it passes before our eyes. We are saying fiance all the time and having fun talking about the future! Including the most fun wedding with all the dancing and drinks and all of our favorite people!!
Keep scrolling to see Courtney & Parker’s seaside proposal story captured by Madison Katlin Photography!!
