The best engagement stories are the ones filled with lots of surprises! The first time we heard Josh & Melissa’s story, we couldn’t believe how seamlessly Josh had pulled off asking Melissa to marry him. While in Chattanooga a few weeks ago, we spent an evening hearing about Josh & Melissa’s love, their story, & all that they are excited about for their wedding. Friends, we can’t wait to celebrate with you at the end of April! So without further ado, here is Josh & Melissa’s proposal story told from Melissa’s perspective:

It happened on Folly Beach in Charleston, where he told me he loved me for the very first time out on the water at sunset. You would think I should have seen it coming, but Josh, knowing that surprises are one of my favorite things in life, did a phenomenal job at hiding every little detail even remotely related to the proposal … 

Months later I was going to go see see my best friend Becca in Charleston for the weekend, and had dropped Josh off in Athens on my way to Charleston from Chattanooga. We had lunch with a friend then said our goodbyes for a long weekend.  I was on my way to Charleston for a relaxing, carefree weekend with my best friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time, and Josh was hanging with his bros in Athens to mountain bike, relax, and catch up. Little did I know I was so completely mistaken – in the best way possible.

My friend, Becca loves to plan, and I was so happy not to think about a thing! She planned a rough itinerary for us for the weekend, including an early morning sunrise on the beach Saturday morning. We watched sunrises together frequently in college, so it wasn’t weird at all that she planned for us to go. She even lied about going to a cute breakfast spot and not being able to come back to the apartment all day so I had to be in real clothes, not pajamas 🙂

As we drove over the bridge that morning, Josh, his best friend Andrew, and Andrew’s fiance, Audrey, were already scoping out the “spot” on the beach and setting up their hide outs. Josh was behind a long jetty of rocks stretching from the dunes to the waves, & his cue to come out of hiding would be when he saw Becca stand up to take a photo of me in the sunrise.

When Becca stood up Josh snuck out from the rocks and tapped me on the shoulder, and I can’t even describe what I felt when I turned! Complete shock, surprise, pure joy, excitement, & nervousness! Josh lead me down from the rocks and out to the water’s edge, where he told me what I meant to him and kneeled to propose.