Joyful engagement session among Redwood trees at California's Carbon Canyon

Sandra and Tayler met online and dated for five years before getting engaged.

“Tayler messaged me first, around Christmas time,” says Sandra, “and I didn’t reply back until after the New Year. We started messaging back and forth for almost a month before we agreed to meet for coffee.”

When they met, the couple instantly felt like they had known each other for years.

“Every date became more familiar with each other,” says Sandra, “and falling more in love with each other.”

Their engagement session took place among the Redwood trees at California’s Carbon Canyon Regional Park.

Who proposed and how?

Sandra: Exactly five years after that first date, Tayler asked me to marry her.

She told me to meet her at the coffee shop where we first met. I dressed special for the occasion, as I thought we were going to meet for dinner. She ordered a Chai Tea Latte (our same drink order from the first date) and when the barista took her name, she looked at Tayler and then at me and responded with, “Oh! We’ll take you your beverages outside.” (not at all suspicious)

We walked to the back of the coffee shop and sat at an outside patio table, taking in the night. She talked about all our time together…the beautiful destinations we’ve visited, the adventures we’ve gone on, and how perfect we were for one another. The barista dropped our coffees off and Tayler reached for both cups and held them close to her before I could reach for mine. She began to talk about our future and then it clicked and I understood what was about to happen.

I started to tear up.

She said she wanted to be with me forever and presented me with my cup.

“Will you marry me?” it read.

I muttered out a “yes” and she took the ring out from her pocket and placed it on my finger. We both stood up and I hugged her tight, so fully overcome with emotion.

Tayler: I had planned a scrapbook proposal, with our five years compiled into this booklet. I, however, had no idea how I was going to ask or where! We decided to take a day trip to Big Bear on December 3, 2019. I hid her ring in my jacket pocket and the book in the car, covered under blankets, not knowing what I was going to do with it.

We stopped first at Big Bear Lake, which was frozen over, with powder white snow surrounding us. We took in the scenery, she hit me with multiple, very accurately targeted snowballs, before heading into town. We walked around town browsing in all the shops, stopping at a dive bar to day drink, and enjoying our day adventure in the snow. Ending the night, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant.

As I was taking in that our little adventure was coming to an end, it hit me like a ton of bricks. We were having such a good time, we are enjoying each other so much, the day has been so beautiful and romantic, and I wasn’t ready to leave without asking her to marry me.

Before heading home, I asked her to have one more drink with me and we ended up at The Boneyard Bar & Grill. We ordered delicious cocktails at their beautiful bar, we began talking and reflecting on how fun our day had been, as I was fidgeting with the ring box in my pocket. I came up with an excuse to step away and retrieve the scrapbook from the car.

I returned to the bar and walked up to her, her back was towards me, I tapped her right shoulder and she looked to her right and I was able to slip the scrapbook in front of her on her left side.

She eyed it and me and I asked her to open it.

She looked through the book, each page depicting a moment in our five years together with a question asking her to continue to enjoy these moments with me.

On the last page, it read, “I have one last question to ask you…” She looked up at me and I pulled the ring box out and placed it on the table.

“Will you marry me?” I asked.

She said yes!