We love a great Lake County, Florida proposal story, don’t you? When I saw these photos hit Facebook, we knew that we wanted to feature Brianna & Charlie’s sunflower field marriage proposal story.
Share with us when and how you met each other.
Charlie and I were actually high school sweethearts. We met when we were fourteen and started dating the summer before our ninth-grade year. Being each other’s first high school boyfriend/girlfriend and first love was very sweet for us, but we were very young and went our separate ways before the end of our ninth-grade year. They say you never forget your first love, and boy, that couldn’t be more true for us!
We hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in fourteen years. There was a lot of life and 2300 miles between us (he was living in California at the time), but when we reconnected at twenty-eight, all the love just came rushing back in like it never left. 2300 miles crossed and my true love came back into my life. He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, twice. We have been inseparable ever since!
Here is the video from when we first saw each other again after fourteen years.
What are your favorite things to do together as a couple?
We love spending time with our family and going for bike rides, and nature trail walks with them. We both love the outdoors and the beach!
How long were you together before getting engaged?
Six months!
Did anyone help with the sunflower field marriage proposal?
Bob, the owner of Stanley Pond Adventure Farm, along with his family.
Share your marriage proposal story…
Charlie had the planning for the proposal in the works for about two months. He went above and beyond to make sure that every detail was really special. I love sunflowers and they are my favorite flower so Charlie surprised me by taking me to Stanley Pond’s Sunflower fields where he coordinated with the owner, Bob, for us to have a private tour after hours.
There are about four to five areas of sunflower patches and fields on the farm and we went to each one hand picking and cutting as many sunflowers as we could fit in three vases. I was just in heaven being surrounded by sunflowers and at this point, Charlie had already made me feel so special with his surprise. Little did I know there was more to come.
Those vases of flowers we had hand-picked were being taken to the final surprise Charlie had arranged. An entire picnic was privately set up in the middle of the sunflower field complete with champagne! We walked up to our picnic, sat down together, and just took it all in. Charlie just kept looking at my reaction, smiling and loving on me. I immediately started tearing up because I just knew at this point that this was it, this was the moment he was going to propose.
He then took my hands as I’m wiping streaming tears down my face and begins to tell me how happy it made him to plan all of this making it so special for me. He tells me how he feels so lucky he gets to be the man to love me like this for the rest of our lives. Now I’m really bawling! Squeezing my hand and wiping my tears he tells me how grateful he is for our love and our family, that I am and always have been the love of his life.
As he is asking me to marry him, he pulls down a string from our picnic umbrella because he had tied the ring around the string so it would land perfectly in front of me, but it almost fell and we just started laughing so hard! We are always laughing together and this moment just was perfectly us. Of course, I said yes to marrying the man of my dreams and the love of my life! Sliding the gorgeous ring around my finger, we kiss and celebrate!
What was the best moment of the proposal?
The afterglow of being officially engaged!
Who did you tell that you were engaged first?
Our parents, family & close friends! We waited to share on social media because we wanted to enjoy the moment without our phones blowing up.
Tell us about the ring!
Charlie had the ring custom made by a jeweler on Etsy, Jackie from NY Fine Jewelry. The ring is in rose gold with an oval cut Opal stone (my birthstone) set with diamond clusters in the shape of leaves. It’s incredibly unique and so delicate. I am obsessed!
You know, it’s funny, I work in the wedding industry so I thought for sure nothing could surprise me anymore, but I think I underestimated how much people love love and a happy ending! I knew our family and friends would be happy for us, but the outpour of love and support has just been so encouraging!
Charlie and I knew we wanted to get married almost as soon as we reconnected and started dating again. We had talked about it early on and knew that commitment was what we wanted with each other from the start so I think we both enjoyed the “officialness” of it! It wasn’t just something we talked about anymore, it was real and we definitely felt a deepened level of intimacy as the beginning of our plans together came to fruition.
What are you most excited about wedding planning?
The wedding dress! I am obsessed with the designer Rue De Seine.
If you’ve already decided, when are you getting married and what is your venue?
We are still deciding on which month we prefer, but we’re looking at 2022 and have our eye on the mansion wedding venue, Howey Mansion!
Why did you choose that venue?
We are eyeing Howey Mansion for its historic venue charm and it’s close to the hometown where we met.
80-100
We are taking it as it goes. We gave ourselves a range to work with.
Boho chic
Have you selected any other vendors for your wedding?
Not yet, still just celebrating!
I am a professional photographer so I brought my camera and a tripod and snapped a couple of pictures of us! Brianna Elise Photography
Congratulations Brianna & Charlie on your sunflower field marriage proposal!
Want to feature your proposal? CLICK HERE to submit your story!
