My wedding proposal story begins on a cold, December morning - Wednesday, December 19, 2013, to be exact. I had this date in my phone’s “day counter” application for the last two and a half months, counting down the days until I got to see my boyfriend, best friend, and hero again. Joe and I had taken a six year hiatus after dating in high school. During our time apart, he joined the Navy and was relocated to San Diego. I had graduated college and started my career in the Twin Cities. When we decided to date again, we knew long distance was going to be a challenge; but with support from both of our families, we knew it’d be worth it.

I wasn’t expecting a wedding proposal.

As I drove to the airport to pick Joe up on that cold December morning, I remembered the last time I saw him. I had gone to visit him in San Diego. During that visit, I asked him to promise me that if he ever fell out of love with me, or if he ever thought that we worked better as friends, he would tell me. Little did I know that I’d set him up for one of the most romantic ways to propose. I arrived at his luggage carousel. I couldn’t help pacing back and forth between the carousel and the escalators. Joe would be home for just two weeks before returning to California and leaving for a seven month deployment. All I could think about was being in his arms and the ability to spend a wonderful two weeks together with our families over the holidays. If only he would come down those escalators! I didn’t want to waste a single waking moment of our limited time together.

The best ways to propose catch your love completely by surprise.

Finally! There he was in his Navy uniform. I ran to greet my hero, intending to jump into his arms. To my surprise, instead of arms wide open, he put his hands out telling me to stop. Confused, I stopped right before him. He grabbed my hands, looked me in the eyes, and asked me if I remembered making him promise to tell me if he ever stopped loving me. After I gave him a hesitant, “Yes…” he said, “That would never happen.” He then got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife! I immediately burst into tears and managed a head-nod--I was too overwhelmed to get any words out.

After jumping into his arms, I realized that there were some familiar faces standing around us! His family and my roommate had been hiding in the airport waiting to come out and take pictures of the whole thing! (For those who may have been at the MSP Airport on December 19th and saw my in-laws and roommate sneaking suspiciously behind pillars and groups of people, thank you for not reporting them to security!)

Thoughtful ways to propose include a plan to celebrate after!

After lots of hugs from those who were there to celebrate with us, I found out that Joe had another surprise up his sleeve. He had arranged private transportation to take us from the airport to a restaurant. His family took care of his luggage and my car, as we felt like celebrities getting picked up from the airport in a limo. We had a wonderful lunch together at The Lexington on Grand in Saint Paul, where we were able to have some alone time to take it all in before spending the rest of the afternoon calling our family and friends with the news! My wedding proposal was absolutely perfect!

How did your sweetheart propose to you? Share your memory in a comment below!