Melissa + Dan | South Hills Country Club Wedding Photos

Dan was single and not loving it. Melissa was being setup on dates, but not finding anything that sparked her interest. They shared a group of friends at work, but only saw each other away from the office on rare occasions. Due to their work, Dan (and a guest) were invited to attend the Navy Ball as a guest of the general manager. Dan didn’t want to pass on this opportunity, but who to take? Wanting to have a good time and also make a good impression on any big-wigs, the cute girl from down the hall seemed like the perfect choice! Naively, Melissa got excited by the chance to wear a fancy dress and go to a party and said yes – so no expectation of starting a relationship.

A week after the Navy Ball invite at a friend’s birthday party, Dan offered to walk Melissa to her car…50 feet away. She knew something was up.

Dan: “So I was thinking we should go to dinner before the Navy Ball to get to know each other better.”
Melissa: “Ummm, we work together. That would be weird.”
Dan: “Is work really the problem or are you just being nice?”
Melissa: “We work together.”
Dan: “I’m switching jobs next month!”
Melissa: “OK, I guess dinner would be fine.”
Be bold! Be persistent! Be honest!

If you have ever been with Melissa for the 4th of July, you know that she LOVES fireworks. Dan wanted to find a way to incorporate fireworks into the proposal, but there aren’t many opportunities in the winter or early spring. After lots of googling, Dan found an add for fireworks during the last weekend of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. They both like traveling, but usually only go with groups. Dan told Melissa about a weekend getaway to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms and she loved the idea of a Spring getaway with just the two of them.

Unfortunately, warm weather in January and February caused the cherry blossoms to come early, so they were all gone by the time of the visit. However, mother nature chose to complicate things further and it was snowing when they arrived and cold throughout the weekend. Dan made an early dinner reservation to allow time for Melissa to put on warm clothes between a nice dinner out and going to see the fireworks that night. Unfortunately, while getting ready for dinner, Dan checked on the fireworks one more time. The rain or shinefireworks were now cancelled because of wind. Dan had to decide…move forward with the plan or just have a nice dinner out and regroup…

Knowing the monuments are lit up at night, Dan decides that’s the new plan. After dinner and dessert, Dan offers that they should go walk around the monuments. At this point, Melissa was suspicious , so she agreed despite the cold. Getting nervous and trying to find the right spot, Dan made them walk from the Washington monument to the World War II monument and around the fountain, with Melissa turning her back to give Dan an opportunity for a surprise many times. Finally, Dan found a place on the far side of the fountain that felt right. Melissa gave Dan a hug. Behind her back, he’s opening up the ring! Not realizing this, she decides she misread the situation and turns to go home preparing to call an Uber. At the same time, Dan is getting down on one knee, but now has to call her back. Dan opens the ring and asks her to marry him. Happily, Melissa responds “DO THE THING DO THE THING!” giving him her hand to put the ring on, then followed by “Yes of course!”