Caitlin and Luke met in an unexpected way. Back in June 2022, Caitlin had downloaded Bumble out of boredom and Luke had downloaded it out of curiosity. He thought. "If I am moving to Jacksonville, I might as well see what is down there."

On June 3rd, they matched after Caitlin swiped right. Luke, however, did not think that Caitlin was real and ghosted her for two and half days after she had asked him who his favorite Star Wars character was.

After finally deciding to just go for it, Luke responded to Caitlin on the app. What followed was two months of long distance phone calls, facetimes, and text messages until Luke moved to Jacksonville, FL in late July. They have been inseparable ever since.

Our Saturday started off like any other random breakfast/beach day. Luke took me to brunch and then we spent the rest of the afternoon at a peaceful, yet windy beach. After that, Luke had convinced me that I needed to change and put on make up since he wanted to take some pictures together before we went to dinner.

When I got into the car, I was immediately handed a blindfold and told to just sit back and relax. My response was, I hope people

dont think Im being kidnapped because this is sketchy as heck. We then drove for 10 minutes while Luke talked about anything and everything that randomly popped into his head. When the car stopped, I felt like I knew what was happening, but after months of being told to just enjoy the moment I had psyched myself out and convinced myself that Luke was definitely NOT proposing today.

Luke and I got out of the car and he then escorted me down a walkway. I smelled water and heard subtle whispers of people around us. Luke stopped me and told me to take off my blindfold. When I opened my eyes, it felt like my brain had halted all activity as I looked around and saw flowers, candles, two photographers, and Lukes brother, Will, recording a video. I did not even completely register what Luke was saying because I really could not believe that he was finally asking me to marry him. After a temporary freak out, I was able to finally give Luke an answer of Yes.

After that, we had a mini photography session and then had a night of celebration with our families and some friends. It’s a night I will never forget.

I had been planning this for months in advance. I had already asked Caitlin's parents permission for her hand in marriage back in March and now was the time to act. We were coming up on our big monthly date and I knew that the time was now. I planned to take her out to a new restaurant for lunch and then take her to a beach to distract her while my family and her family were decorating. In retrospect, I will say that the beach was far but it gave everyone enough time to do what they needed to do.

I got her back to my house to get her ready to take pictures. This is the rouse that I told her to get her to dress nicely. In the back of my mind I knew that she already knew what was going to happen or at least have some idea. However, my main goal of the day was not just to surprise her with what was going to happen but with how big everything was going to be done for her. When we got into the car and made it to the site, I made Cate put on the blindfold so she wouldn't know where we were heading and what was in store for her. I tried my best to get her up to a gazebo but it wasn't the smoothest transaction because Cate was scared of tripping the entire time.

When she was in position, I got down on one knee and told her to take off her blindfold. Immediately I remember her face lighting up with disbelief. I also remembering her say, "No! This is a joke. It can't be real." As I said, "Caitlin, these days have been the happiest days of my life and I can't see myself living without you for the rest of my life so will you marry me?" She just kept saying, "Baby, baby, baaaaaby" as she crumpled to the ground. That was when I asked, "Is that a yes or a no?" She finally said, "Oh! Yes"