Our Proposal Story

lifestyle

Dec 7

Written By

Today we are celebrating five years since Robbie proposed to me! We thought it would be so fun to retell this story since my audience has grown so much since it happened, and share a little bit about how we met along with the photos!How we met...Robbie and I first followed each other on Instagram in the summer of 2012 due to a mutual friend. We didn't meet in person until more than a year later, so I guess you could say we "met" on IG! Very fitting given our current careers. Fast forward to April 2013, and Robbie and I had started commenting on each other’s Instagram posts here and there {note: SRL was not even a thing yet, we both had less than 500 followers at this time}. Just from his crazy posts I could tell he was unlike any guy I had ever met, let alone dated, so I was very intrigued. I was going to school in Utah and he was playing basketball at a junior college in central California. After a while of random commenting on IG, we eventually connected on FB and started messaging one another there {he loves to point out that I was the one who sent the friend request haha}. He then asked for my phone number and the first day he texted me he said: “Hey, wanna FaceTime?” I had just gotten back from the gym and looked like a mess, but for some reason I said yes. We talked that night and had such a good time. He then began to call or FaceTime me every night for a month. He would text me goodnight and good morning. Being the wordsmith he is, he sent me a new poem he had written about me every day. Gahhhhh heart eyes!After my semester ended in the spring of 2013, he flew to Las Vegas for a week so we could finally meet in person. He had planned to spend six days in Vegas, basically just so we could hang out. On May 10, 2013, I met Robbie Tripp for the first time in person and we shared our first kiss. On the third day he asked me to be his girlfriend, and on the sixth day when I dropped him off at the airport, he told me loved me. Yes, you read that right LOL. You all probably know by now that Robbie doesn't beat around the bush on anything! Some people may think that’s too fast but he is proud of it to this day and stands by the fact that he knew that quickly. It wasn’t long after that that I knew I was dating my future husband. We dated for seven months and then...The ProposalLet’s start on Friday, December 6th, 2013. It was my 22nd birthday and I had a fantastic day! I went to my classes in the morning and then went to lunch with girlfriends. Robbie took me to my favorite sushi place for dinner and surprised me with fourth row tickets to see The Forgotten Carols, my most favorite Christmas play. After, Robbie surprised me by taking me to my brother’s apartment for homemade cake and presents with all my friends there to celebrate with me. I was officially 22 {cue T. Swift} and so happy. I was also so sure Robbie was going to propose that night.Well, the night came and went and... no ring. When we parked in front of my apartment that night, I just started crying. Robbie was totally confused and wondering why I was crying after such a fun day. I couldn't help it. I knew he was waiting for the perfect moment to surprise me and I was positive it was going to be that night {I had even gotten a manicure the day before}. But as magical as my birthday was, it didn’t happen. When I finally stopped crying and admitted to him why I was sad, being typical Robbie, he told me he couldn’t propose when I was expecting it. He wanted it to be a total and complete surprise.The next day, Saturday, was spent cleaning and doing homework. Let’s just say I wasn’t in the best of moods all day. I was working part-time at J.Crew from 4-8pm and Robbie gave me a ride. I can admit now that I gave him attitude all day for not proposing to me on my birthday haha. When he dropped me off, he told me we would go see the new hit Disney-Pixar movie ‘Frozen’ at the theater after work. After dropping me off, he told me he was going to hang out at his parents house in the opposite direction of where we lived. I thought nothing of it.Little did I know he was actually preparing everything for his planned proposal that weekend, on Sunday. That’s right, Sunday.But as he was getting everything ready, he just decided to do it that night. Knowing how sad I was that it didn’t happen on my birthday {and probably nudged by the sass I'd been giving him all day} he called an audible and started setting up that very night. When Robbie picked me up from work, he told me his parents also wanted to see the movie, so we headed back to their home.It had been snowing all day long and driving conditions were SO bad. I obviously didn’t know when he was going to propose, and when he said we were going to see a movie that night, I figured it definitely wasn't going to happen that night either. We pulled into his driveway and walked into the house for literally two seconds before Robbie said: “Let’s go outside.”What?! Blizzard status out there?! He took my hand and led me outside... and that’s when I first realized what was going on. He had made a pathway of luminaries leading down his parents' secluded back driveway tucked behind the house. I just looked at him and smiled. He led me down the soft, glowing path of snow. It was the exact spot where a year earlier we had first talked about the possibility of getting married. We walked around the corner and that's when I saw it:Robbie had set up a sign with white Christmas lights that said “MARRY ME.” He had a table set with a pink Christmas tree, pink balloons, Martinelli’s, and some glasses. I looked at him and he smiled at me. It was night time and totally silent around us and it felt like we were in our own little snow globe with the big fluffy snowflakes falling all around us. I honestly don't even remember being cold because it was so magical and I was so, so happy. Thinking about those big, fluffy snowflakes falling on our shoulders in the stillness of night still makes me smile.Robbie led me to chairs he had set up and sat me down. He pulled out his writing notebook and read me the sweetest poem he’s ever written me. I cried because it was so sweet. I giggled because I was so happy. And I cried some more.He then got down on one knee in the snow, and said some of the most sincere words I’ve ever heard him say. He pulled the ring out of his pocket and said: "Sarah Kathryn Smith, will you marry me?" Of course I said YES, kissed him, gave him a big hug, and that's when his dad came around the corner and started snapping the photos. He put the ring on my freezing finger and I fell in love with it instantly. It was rose gold with the most beautiful band and little pops of pink gemstones that are so me. My ring is a custom design from our family friend/jeweler Jeff White Custom Jewelry in Las Vegas! Fun fact: Robbie designed my ring and surprised me! The only element I asked for was a pear cut diamond. He nailed it!Soon after, Robbie and I picked a date that wasn't hard to select at all: May 10th, 2014, one year to the day of our first date. We were married in the Las Vegas LDS Temple. {Yes, I planned a wedding in five months--thank goodness for a wedding planner--and we got married two weeks after I graduated college. It was a crazy, but special time.}Our wedding day was the best day of our lives, but somehow life just keeps getting better! There's nothing like going through the ups and downs of life with your person. Keep scrolling to view the snowy proposal photos! I will love these photos forever! xx