Our engagement story actually begins in January when we went to visit a state park near us called Two Lights. It's absolutely gorgeous there with Very Maine views of rocky coast and ocean aplenty, so we decide this was where we wanted to get engaged.

As you might be able to guess, if you set a specific location that is also a place you don't regularly visit, casually getting out there for “no particular reason” is not the simplest task.

So after some workshopping with friends and his sister, Zach schemes something up. A couple of our friends would host a Summer Kickoff Picnic on a lovely Sunday afternoon, and Two Lights would "organically" be suggested as the place to do it. One of our friends, Evan, would photograph the engagement, so he and Zach will go to the park several times beforehand and scout everything out.

So, the plan: Lexi and Zach go out there for the picnic and surprise! It's a proposal! Double surprise! It’s actually a picnic also and all our friends are here for an engagement party!

All is going well and everything is on track. It’s the week of the event, when the universe suddenly decides that the warm, sunny weather we've been having is abruptly over, only to be replaced with rainy, windy, 50 degree weather.

So on Saturday, Plan B was put into effect: we would still feign like the picnic is happening so that Lexi and Zach head down to the park, during which time all of our friends would actually be back at our apartment setting up a surprise party.

With a bit of Lexi grumbling and suggesting “maybe we should skip the picnic and just watch the X-Files” because it is still raining, she and Zach head down to the park and the plan is set in motion. Zach even brings a tote bag with some drinks and chips because we're "going to a picnic" (and definitely not because it covers up the ring box that's in the tote).

At this point, Zach – according to Lexi– is visibly nervous/stiff. In his head, he knows she will say yes, but he’s running through all the other ways something could go wrong. The rain will ruin things, the fact that he had been at the park the day before and what if the park ranger at the gate recognized him, etc. etc.

We arrive at the park, and the rain stops the minute we stop the car. We went walking down a (pre-determined) trail that our "friends had found a covered picnic site” at. Because of the rain, everything is lush and gorgeous.

We come out of the wooded part of the trail to an outcropping where Zach and Photographer Friend Evan had planned out a route.

Zach says "Well, it seems like we can't find anybody, so maybe we should do something else" and starts to reach into the tote bag…

To which Lexi responds: “Are you getting a Dorito right now???”

"No you idiot, you've been tricked!" he retorts as he pulls out the ring box with a flourish (calling your soon-to-be fiancee an idiot is always advisable!).

We walk down the trail and Zach said some Nice Things he had prepared (he learned afterward that during this portion Lexi pretty much blacked out). We get up to the top of the hill where Evan is hiding; Zach asks the question, and Lexi– through a lot of tears– makes a sound that was approximating a yes (woo!! yay!!!! ahh!!!!!!).

Then Zach reveals Evan hiding with his camera, and Lexi exclaims, "so there never was a picnic!!" Zach lets her know the scheme, conveniently leaving out the forthcoming surprise party. We take some more photos, and then Evan leaves (to get a head start back to the party) while we make phone calls to family and such. After a bit, Zach prompts "well, should we go tell fErd?" so that we can make our way home (and to the party).

Lexi agrees, and things are going according to plan until Lexi's calling her best friend Molly on the drive home, and Molly says "Well, what are you guys going to do now?? You should go to dinner, or get ice cream!" Lexi responds "Ooh yeah, ice cream sounds awesome!!" Zach– feigning a stomachache– insists that we go straight home, to which Lexi sympathetically agrees, somehow not suspecting subterfuge at all.

We get back to our apartment, come up the entryway stairs, open the door, and we're met with a cacophony of "SURPRISE!! CONGRATS!!!!!"

Our friends have decorated our apartment with an abundance of streamers and balloons, brought us a feast of sodas and chips and dips and much much more, and we have a wonderful little party. Everyone toasts to the lucky couple, some appreciative, elated tears are shed, and things are all just very, very, very good.