Emilie and Dean

I cannot say enough about this fun, energetic and adorable couple. Emilie is a strong marathon-running go-getter and Dean is the charming, gentlemanly clever-clog! These two looked absolutely classic during their Old Town Alexandria engagement session and I cannot wait for their Rixey Manor wedding in the Fall. And their’s is a proposal story you want to read! Taiwan, cribbage and a special ring…

How they met (written by Emilie):

On December 7th, 2013, Dean was at a birthday party with Daniella, Emilie’s best friend and partner in crime. Daniella and Emilie had plans to go to a friend’s Christmas party later that evening. Dean graciously offered to give her a ride into DC and pick Emilie up on the way. The entire way there Emilie tried to convince Dean to stay for the party. Serendipitously, there was a parking spot a block away and he decided to stay.

In true “Dean” fashion, he spent some time googling Emilie at the party and reciting facts to her. Lucky for him, she found this quite hilarious and charming. So charming that she even let him drive her home. After he dropped Daniella back off at home, the two of them had such a good conversation that he even contemplated “getting lost” to spend more time with her.

The two got to know each other slowly over the next couple of months while talking online at work. They finally started hanging out after he promised to make me shrimp and grits one weekend and the rest is history 🙂

How he proposed (written by Emilie):

Unbeknownst to Emilie, Dean’s father gave him his grandmother’s ring before he moved up to DC in 2012 just in case he met someone special. When the time came, Dean took the ring to a jeweler (who happened to be the brother of classmates from Virginia Tech) to reset the center stone into a ring that seemed more fitting. He chose the classic three stone setting since he loved the idea of two individual stones coming together to meet a larger one.

Dean also decided he wanted to propose at a place that meant a lot to Emilie. Conveniently, they had planned on a trip to Taipei, Taiwan for late October to visit Emilie’s extended family. As they prepared for the trip, she had no idea what was about to happen. And again, unbeknownst to Emilie (a theme in their relationship), he had the ring on a chain around his neck the entire 14 hour flight about 2 inches from her face.

Dean had decided to propose on 11/1 because he also liked the idea of two ones becoming something more. It just so happened that 1/11 was the date that he first made Emilie his delicious shrimp and grits as well. Unfortunately, he had little insight regarding the itinerary but it just so happened that they would be hiking on 11/1… with her mother. Dean debated pushing the pace to lose her or to accept her as a photographer. He went with the latter, but when they reached the peak of the hike and Dean suggested to “play a game of cribbage,” she wouldn’t stop talking about bananas. Finally, Dean handed Emilie a deck of cards and asked her to shuffle.

Well this was no ordinary deck of cards. It was printed with a picture of the ring, wine cork from their first date, and had “Em, will you marry me?” on it, which Emilie did not notice since she grabbed it upside down. Dean had cut an inset out of 42 of the cards and glued them together to make a box. He kept two sets of five cards (10-Ace of diamonds and hearts!) for the top and bottom to represent their anniversary 2/5/14.

When Emilie tried to shuffle, she noticed it was stuck. She slipped open the box and saw the ring and the wine cork from their first date! The tears came down and Dean got on one knee and asked her to marry him to which Emilie replied, “Yes!”. All while Emilie’s mother asked what was going on and why Emilie was crying…

Meanwhile, Dean had a friend sneak into their home and place a bottle of champagne with the two jokers from the deck in the fridge. When they got home, Dean asked Emilie to check the fridge for food. She found the champagne was personalized with an acrostic poem Dean wrote where the first letter of each line spelled out TAIWAN E & D. She cried (again!) and they popped the champagne to celebrate!

Phew. That was long and full of symbolism, but it wouldn’t be a Dean proposal if it weren’t intricate and symbolic!

 

Michelle Lieb with Lieb Photographic is a Charlottesville Wedding Photographer, Culpeper Wedding Photographer, Fredericksburg Wedding Photographer, Alexandria Wedding Photographer and a wedding photographer in the surrounding areas.