Tell us about dating.
We’ve been together for about four years, and met on Bumble! On top of how beautiful Hannah thought she was, Claire had a tagline that she could not forget – “I love Costco, blankets, and cheese.” Talk about a dream girl.
Claire had been traveling in Central America for the year and came home for the summer. Two days before Claire left for another three months of traveling, they went on their first date for drinks at Golden Eagle. We both felt the potential, but set up the expectation as “no expectations.”
We continued to text and talk every day, and once Claire moved back to Georgia, we officially started dating.
Tell us about the proposal.
C – We actually had two! We knew we each wanted to propose. Because we are both planners, we gave a broad timeline of ‘before the end of the year’.
I thought I was going to beat Hannah, but she surprised me in September a month before I was planning on asking her.
On a Thursday after work, she told me we were flying out the next morning to a location that neither of us had been to before. I was speechless for a good 12 hours. We flew into Boston and took a ferry to Provincetown! It was an absolute dream the entire weekend. We biked through a seashore park, saw the most beautiful houses and gardens, and ate all the lobster we could handle. We went to the beach on our last night and Hannah had a huge picnic set up. She read me a beautiful letter–this girl has a way with words– and asked me to marry her.
And, proposal number two?
H – After proposing to Claire in September, I was giddy thinking of when she would then ask me. It’s very typical of us to block out a night for a scheduled ‘date’ every few weeks. Claire had blocked out an entire day on a Sunday in October. The day’s lineup was perfect — full of favorite foods, new activities, and relaxing times in between. She treated me to my favorite local burger before heading to a glass-blowing class. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a rom-com lover, including ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. So, I was swooning over that similarity.
Afterward, we got an hour-long massage.
Dinner reservations were then at our favorite neighborhood place — Wisteria. On the walk back to our apartment, we took a strange route. I didn’t say anything, but had a hint of suspicion. Claire had coordinated with her friends to get our living room set up with candles, photos of us (and Shiner, our dog), cupcakes, and champagne. She also had Shiner in a dog wedding dress (much to Shiner’s dismay). The record player was playing one of my favorite albums by Leon Bridges. Unbeknownst to me, Claire had been learning to play “Beyond” on the piano over the last few weeks and debuted it as a preface to her proposal. She also read me a letter.
It was beautiful, just like her.
Photographer Zach Barron
