THE PROPOSAL - Katelyn and Bradley.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege and honor of driving my dear friend Katelyn around on one of the biggest days of her life - the day she got engaged. The proposal was an extravagant plan that started out months ago...and i'd like to share the full story with you. 

here...we...go...

THE SETUP : Brad had everything set up perfectly. The plan was to tell Katelyn that Megan (Brad's older sister) was pregnant (lie) so they had to go home to Mission Viejo on Friday, stay the night, and wake up to have brunch with the family to celebrate. Brad had eight locations set up with hand written notes at each describing things he loved about Katelyn and the next spot she was to head to...and at each place there was someone Katelyn loved..waiting for her!

LOCATION #1 - Brad's kitchen

My job was to get to Brad's house Saturday A.M. and to wait for Katelyn to wake up and walk down stairs. She came around the corner and I wish you all could have seen the look on her face when she saw me sitting there..in Brad's kitchen...just me...haha. I handed her a long scroll hand written by Brad himself. Brad is an extreme person, so he goes all out in everything he does... so the first scroll had to be LONG...Katelyn was laughing so much and at this moment, I think she knew it would be a day she would never forget...

The lengthy scroll. This scroll told us to go to a special lake by Brad's house...

It instructed us to meet a special person there, take a boat out to a special spot Brad and Katelyn always headed too, to find the next clue floating in the water...

LOCATION #2 - Lake 1 with Kamee (sister) 

Kamee is Katelyn's younger sister and it was so sweet to have her with us first thing in the morning...and she stayed with us all day. Kamee goes to school with us at APU and she is such a joy to be around and I know she is so excited for her sister to be a wife! 

The clue was floating in a special location in the lake, in the wine bottle that Brad and Katelyn had on their first date. (Funny story: Brad's dad was the one to get out to the location to place the bottle there minutes before we arrived, he was rushing to get out of the way and even called Brad saying, "they are gaining on me Brad...fast approaching!" hahaha its a funny moment we all laugh about now) 

Brad is extreme, as I said before, and wrote some hilarious stuff. He had Katelyn cracking up all day! This note told us to go to another lake, the first place Katelyn and Brad talked about getting married. Katelyn knew exactly where to go. 

LOCATION #3 - Lake 2 with Natijane 
Natijane is our dear dear friend and was patiently awaiting Katelyn's arrival at the second lake. She was sitting on the rocks where Katelyn and Brad first talked about marriage, and it was a sweet moment to share with her.

The tears were flowing a bit on this note, right Kate! hah This one told us to head to a specific ferris wheel (Irvine Spectrum) where Katelyn would find someone there..and by the end of the day their relationship would look a lot different! 

LOCATION #4 - Irvine Spectrum Ferris Wheel, Megan (Brad's sister) 
This was great. We get to the Ferris Wheel and turn to find Megan...except she wasnt there! Turns out we were about 15 minutes early, and Megan was around the corner in a store...lucky for us Katelyn is a patient lady so we told her to wait for a second while Kamee and I tried to find Megan! She was holding a blue balloon, and we quickly spotted her not too far off. haha...

It was sweet, they had a few minute together on the ferris wheel to read over the note from Brad and share some words as sisters-to-be. Megan was a great sport and it was special time for the both of them. This clue told us to head to the happiest place on earth...

LOCATION #5 - Disneyland! 
Brad's uncle works at Disneyland and gets them into the park a few times a year. This time we entered the park for Katelyn to find her 5th clue! We were instructed to head to Pirates of the Caribbean to a special part of the ride, where Brad always tells katelyn to stick her hand in the wall to pick up and penny and put down a penny. This time though, a clue was waiting for her!

This clue was specifically difficult to set up, when we entered the park we texted our friend Logan with the green light - and he headed to the pirates line to time out the placement of the scroll. It felt like mission impossible...we only had a short window to make sure Katelyn got the clue, we were a bit nervous -bit it was a success!

The one photo I took in the ride! hahaa

Brad gave us a gift card, and told Katelyn to buy something to remember the day by, mickey ears!

We spent a few hours hanging out in Disneyland, it was a beautiful day! This clue led us to one of Brad and Katelyn's favorite places to eat - Chick Fil A! There we found some very familiar faces...

LOCATION #6 - Chick Fil A

We walked into Chick Fil A with a warm welcome from our roommates. Love these girls

Brad has a specific prayed that he always says at Chick Fil A, its quite the entertaining prayer with a few specific punch lines that really make it memorable...so since Brad couldnt physically be there with us, he recorded himself praying and played it on an ipad for Katelyn..she loved it! 

SO FUN! This clue led us to our home sweet home...for katelyn to get ready for the next spot!

LOCATION #7- the nest. 

We had an hour or so before we had to head out again, so Brad told katelyn to freshen up, put on her new dress and necklace that we picked out for her, and head to the next spot. We were all so excited to help her get ready!

Gorgeous! The clue told us to go to the spot where Brad and Katelyn had their first kiss - Griffith!

LOCATION #8 - Griffith Observatory 

Brad really planned out every detail, even down to the car rides. He packed snacks and drinks in an ice chest to help the drives go faster, and even made 2 CD's for us to listen to with coordinating songs...so on our drive to the Griffith he instructed me to play the "romanic" CD of all cute love songs to get in the mood...it was really sweet. At this point Katelyn was thinking the proposal was coming soon..little did she know who would be waiting for her at the Griffith...

Her face when she saw her parents!

Katelyn's parents are amazing, and were waiting there with opens arms! 

They are from central cal, and drove all the way down for the big day. 

Katelyn read her last and final note with them and her parents both shared really sweet words of encouragement and affirmation...there was this precious moment when Katelyn and kamee hugged their Dad as he sang to them their favorite childhood song! 

FINAL LOCATION - Finkbiner Park, behind our house

This was our final location on our long journey! Brad had been running around all day and spend most of his time decorating the park. Minor crisis - his car broke down mid way through the day, lucky for him our roommates were around to lend him a hand! It was all worth it...

The beautiful set up!

Finally!!!!!!!

The sweetest couple. 

We headed back home after the park..after our long journey...and with the ring FINALLY on her finger, Katelyn and Brad shared the story with all our friends and family. Her dad toasted to the love birds and we shared such a sweet time of celebration! 

THIS PROPOSAL WAS EPIC! So blessed to have been a part of it. I am so thankful for Brad and Katelyn and I cannot wait for their wedding this October. And, lucky for me the fun continues as I get to stand next to Katelyn as one of her bridesmaids :) love them both so much. YAYYYYY!!!!