If this couple’s gay marriage proposal doesn’t make you believe in true love or that Hallmark Christmas movies really can come true, I don’t know what will. From their Meet-Cute that started with a bit of a lie to the sweetest engagement tale ever, our interview with them had us laughing and crying with joy. Take a look, and just wait until you see their adorable engagement photos! They’re divine!
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A Gay Marriage Proposal Worthy of a Hallmark Movie: Interview with Aaron & Kyler
We sat down, virtually through email, with Aaron and Kyler, to learn more about their love story. Trust me when I say it’s practically torn straight from a RomCom, complete with a Meet-Cute that will make your heart burst with joy. Our questions are in purple. All photos courtesy of Aaron and Kyler.
How did you two meet?
It all started with a lie…
Wait, what? That can’t be how a solid foundation for a marriage starts… Let us explain…
Aaron and Kyler met in December 2014 when Aaron was visiting family in Salt Lake for Christmas. Despite growing up in Salt Lake, Aaron explained he was “Visiting from Seattle.” Kyler replied saying he wanted to show Aaron around while he was in town. Aaron thought to himself, “Alright, let’s see where this guy takes me,” and decided to pretend he was a tourist the rest of the night.
Kyler took Aaron to dinner (and got them lost on the way), showed him Temple Square’s Christmas Lights, and gave him “fun facts” about Salt Lake History while showing Aaron around the valley. At the end of the date, Aaron finally admitted he was from Salt Lake and took Kyler to one of his favorite spots – the view from the State Capitol. After Aaron returned to Seattle, the couple lost touch throughout the year.
The next Christmas, Aaron and Kyler met up for brunch to reconnect. During brunch, Kyler said he had to abruptly leave early for a family emergency. Thinking it was a ploy to get out of a bad date, Aaron stayed behind and finished breakfast alone. Feeling bad for the sudden exit, Kyler asked to meet up on Christmas Eve to make up for his having to leave. Kyler picked up Aaron in his front wheel drive car and drove them to a nearby park where they stayed until 3 A.M. in deep conversation, paying no attention to the snow falling heavily around them.
When it was finally time to go home, Kyler’s car wasn’t able to make it up the steep icy hill back to Aaron’s house. Running out of options, Kyler had to wake up his sister to ask her for keys to her Jeep so he could make it up the mountain to get Aaron home, while Kyler’s mom peeked out the window wondering who this mystery guy was. Little did she know, this mystery guy had put the idea in his head to move to Seattle, embarking on a journey that would lead us to a new chapter in our life
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When did you know he was the one? Tell us about that moment when you knew you wanted to spend your life together.
Kyler here – I knew the second we met up for the second time in Utah. After reconnecting, I was reminded of our instant connection we had. I was finally done with college and didn’t have anything holding me in Utah.
Aaron gave me the idea to apply for jobs in Seattle. I thought he was crazy, as Seattle is so expensive and I could never afford that. I threw my resume out to some companies and was hired by a non-profit about 2 weeks later.
How long have you been together?
We have been together for 4.5 years now.
Tell us about your proposal. Who Proposed? How?
Aaron proposed to me. We bought a house together in 2018 and have been talking about doing a gallery wall in our hallway upstairs. As you can see from our first date, Christmas is kind of our holiday, so I suspected a proposal may be happening this year. We woke up on Christmas morning, cooked breakfast and sat down on the couch to exchange gifts. He handed me a small box and my heart started racing. I ripped open to wrapping paper and opened the box, only to find a new wallet.
I’m not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. We continued exchanging presents until there was one big box left. I opened this box and inside was 11 smaller individually wrapped presents labeled 1-11. I began with #1, and it was a wrapped picture frame with a picture from our first date. #2 was another picture, this time from when I moved up to Seattle. This continued, mapping out different vacations we have taken together, accomplishments (such as running our first marathon together), and other big life milestones.
When I opened box #11, I found a shadow box with the ring tied up. Aaron then got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. I didn’t even hesitate. It was the easiest Yes I’ve ever said.
When were you supposed to get married? Tell us about the ceremony you organized.
We were supposed to get married on October 24th, 2020 in the Olympic Ballroom at The Edgewater Hotel in downtown Seattle. It is a stunningly beautiful room with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Elliott Bay with the Olympic Mountain range in the background.
We were going to have the ceremony right at sunset with 200 of our friends and family. We were so excited to have all of our family fly in from out of state. It would have been the first time both of our families had been to Seattle together, and we were so excited to celebrate with us. Unfortunately, with the uncertain state our world is in, we ultimately made the decision to postpone our celebration for a future date.
It must have been a hard decision to postpone your wedding. Tell us about how you managed to go through it and what tips can you give to other couples to help them?
Making the decision was incredibly hard, but it was the right choice. All of our family would have had to fly in from out of state. Both of our grandparents are high risk, and my dad has underlying health conditions that would make battling COVID-19 especially difficult. These risks, combined with the social distancing restrictions currently in place in Seattle and the current COVID-19 projections and re-opening plans didn’t make it feasible to hold our large party this year.
Additionally, if anyone of our friends or family came to our wedding and became sick with COVID-19, we would have been beside ourselves and that is not something we want to live with for the rest of our lives. When we began looking at it from that lens, the decision to postpone was simple.
Do you have a date for your upcoming wedding or you are still waiting?
We have not set a date for a future wedding, but it will be when it is safe for everyone to travel and there are no social distancing guidelines in place. We may still have a small, immediate family only ceremony in Utah this fall, and hold a big party when it is safe. For us, while it is not about the production of the day, it is important for us to have our friends and family around us to celebrate.
Tell us a little about your dream wedding!
This is a hard question for me. I feel like the wedding we were planning was my dream wedding. We have an incredible venue with amazing views of the Seattle skyline and waterfront. We were going to have a plated dinner and an open bar. We found an awesome DJ who spins at the gay bars on Capitol Hill. Our photographer we hired could be our best friend. Our families are both so supportive. They had a “guydal shower” planned for us on July 18th, but unfortunately, we had to postpone that as well.
Our wedding party was throwing us an epic combined bachelor party in Bend, OR in August. We were scheduled to travel to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, even being out of the country on the election! I really cannot think of anything else I would have wanted for our special day.
While Kyler and Aaron’s big day may be on hold for now, we have no doubt that whatever wedding they plan for the future, it will be as epic as their love story. Want to learn more about this amazing couple? Visit their wedding website!
What is your favorite part of Aaron and Kyler’s sweet gay marriage proposal? Share your happy wishes for the couple below!
I’m a freelance journalist/writer/content marketer with BA Hons in Journalism.