I got to know Zach when he reached out to me to help him coordinate his proposal to Carly (featured on How He Asked HERE).  As I got to know them and their story, it became apparent that this man seriously loves this girl. One time he told me that “she’s my favorite topic to talk about.” YOU GUYS! Isn’t that so sweet? Zach started having feelings for Carly in high school. When I asked him when he fell in love, he said VERY confidently that it was in the waiting, as they were friends. “It was always Carly.”

He asked her out a few times, but that friend zone thing was REAL with them. He didn’t want to push his feelings on her, so instead he focused on their friendship. He knew that they were just at different places at the time and he wanted to respect that. Plus, he knew that he would rather have a friendship with Carly than nothing at all, even though in the back of his mind…he knew.

Their story reminds me a lot of my story with Wayne. I’m definitely a big fan of Zach. I know Wayne is too. I’m pretty sure I even saw Wayne give Zach a fist bump during their proposal. (To be honest, I think it was for also reigning victorious over the friend zone, like he did)

Back to their proposal story: Carly reached out to me requesting to schedule a graduation shoot for Zach to celebrate him completing law school. Unbeknownst to her, she was kind of planning her own proposal, because Zach saw this “graduation photo shoot” as an opportunity to propose. Zach invited both sets of families into town for some “family photos” and everything fell right into place for their proposal. Zach’s cue to get down on one knee was when I asked him what it has meant for him to have Carly by his side for all of this. He turned to her and said, “It’s meant everything. You mean everything. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here. You’ve been my rock through life and through law school. I rely on your friendship to get me through my hardest times because you actually make those moments that much better. You’ve strengthened me and motivated me to be better, to be like you. I don’t know life without you, because you’re my person.”