He was at work when his boss asked him to train a new girl. He wasn’t thrilled about it. Not because he didn’t want to train, but because he always has a lot going on and doesn’t like slowing down. But he did it anyway.

Four months later, they went on their first date. Shortly after they started dating, she was injured at work and was at home for a few days on some strong pain medication that made her very ill. It was during this time that she knew he was the one for her. Despite being a squeamish guy, he took time off work and took her to his house to he could take care of her. He sat next to her, held her hair back, and rubbed her back when she got sick. She knew then that he would always take care of her.

Their proposal story makes me laugh. (Coincidentally, it involves another upcoming bride of mine, Laci, who is also getting married next year. Laci & Brittany are best friends.)

Sam: I told my dad one day that Brittany was the one. He asked me if I had gotten a ring yet. After that, I tried to think of different ways of proposing to her. This process took about two months. I asked permission from her parents first (and they were very happy) and then…I asked one of my best friends, Tyler, to help out with the proposal. We orchestrated this plan that I take a walk with Britt in our backyard which is a park and stop at a particular spot that we marked with a small white line. I would propose to her while Tyler, who would be hiding behind some shrubs about 30 yards away, would take photos of it. The only thing that went right was that Tyler showed up on time and took a very awesome picture.

Brittany: I was completely caught off guard! I had no idea! The day started off just like any other day. I woke up at 6AM when my best friend, Laci, dropped off her little girl Jett. I should have known something was up when Laci told me she was going to leave the stroller because she thought the weather was going to be warm enough for a walk. Later that morning, Sam told me to get ready [because] we needed to go a visitation for his uncle who had passed away in Chicago a few days prior. He said there was a visitation being held in town for the family who couldn’t make it to Chicago. Believable, right? So I handed Jett to Sam and began getting ready. Once we were ready to go, Sam told me we had to walk because there were too many cars there already. He said their house was just on the other side of the park so we would be okay. I also should’ve realized something wasn’t right when he insisted we take our dog, Bear, with us, but we were in a hurry so I didn’t ask questions. Just before 11AM we left for the visitation.

S: Brittany didn’t want to go for a walk. We had Jett, who was 1 month old, and our dog. She thought it was gloomy/rainy outside and so I had to make up the excuse about the visitation to get her outside. (She couldn’t say no to that!) We finally go on the walk and she is going pretty fast with the stroller while I have the dog. I remember when that white line [we had marked] was in my view that I started freaking out because I didn’t know what I could have told her to make her stop. So, of course, I did the only thing that I could think of and started yelling at the dog. Britt turned around and asked what was wrong and I said I was tired of Bear and that I wanted to switch her the stroller for the dog. She took the dog, I took the stroller. Right before the white line, I thought, “How in the heck am I going to propose to her with the stroller right next to me?”

B: We got half way through the park and Sam left the stroller about 10 feet back and walked over to me. At first I was like, “What are you doing?!” Jett began to whimper [from the stroller] so I tried to walk over to her, but Sam held my arms and said, “She is fine. Just wait.”

S: She wasn’t stopping so I pretended like my shoe was untied. She wouldn’t stop so I yelled to her to come over and help me because my knee locked up. She finally came over while I was down on one knee.

B: He pulled the ring out of his pocket! I was in shock!! I believe the first thing out of my mouth was, “Are you serious?!” Then I said “YES!”

S: The only thing that actually worked out like it was supposed to was Tyler taking the picture.

B: And when we got back to the house where was a box at the front door. It had a dozen long-stemmed roses and a note from Sam with a box of my favorite snack: chocolate!

When asked what they admire most about each other, Sam told me, “Her courage. She is a little firecracker even though she thinks she is a princess. She is a go-get-it-done kind of girl.” Brittany said that she admires how strong and level-headed he is. “This wedding has brought out probably the worst in me. I am very detail-oriented and somewhat of a control freak. Yet…it doesn’t bother him at all. He can think clearly and come up with a perfect answer to whatever little problem I am freaking out about.”

This isn’t my usual style, but I absolutely ADORE this photo…

Sam is a fisherman through and through.