How He Asked | Allie + William

Allie and William wandered in the same friend groups for two years before officially dating. After that, through daily Mass, prayer, and active discernment, they continued to walk together towards marriage, asking God to be their guiding light every step of the way.

With the help of some friends one exceptionally busy summer, Will proposed in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and Allie said yes to the man who would become her husband.

From the Bride: Neither Will nor I remember how we officially met. It happened through mutual friends, and probably at my house, but we can’t recall exactly when. 

Will jokes that he would come over to hang out with one of my housemates and ask “where her quiet friend whose-name-he-couldn’t-remember was”--without realizing he was asking for his future wife.

Both of us remember two years of “seeing each other around” and hanging out in the same groups of people, but never saying much to each other. We attended concerts, parties, and other events together, but didn’t begin to become “real” friends until the summer of 2018.

That summer, mid-June was when Will first realized he might be interested in me. A friend of ours was playing music at a local dive bar, and a group of us went to support him. That night at a cookout, Will and I got to talking, and it all flowed really well. I remember calling it good banter, but Will claims he was flirting. Regardless, we hit it off. Thus began the summer of Will trying to flirt with me and figure out if he would ask me on a date, and me not picking up on any of it.

When he finally asked me out in October (his housemates pushed him out the door after me, but that’s a whole other story), I was completely taken by surprise, and I was even more surprised to realize I was interested in him as well! We “officially” began our relationship on November 3, 2018, and things progressed quickly from there.

The best way to describe how we knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together is that it all just worked. We’ve gone to daily Mass most days throughout our relationship, and we found that when we stayed close to the Lord in the sacraments and in personal prayer, both as a couple and individually, we could move forward and trust God was guiding us. We could trust he would make it clear if he wanted us to move in a different direction. That’s the approach to discernment we’ve taken, and the Lord kept moving us forward. We’ve clearly seen God at work in our lives through our relationship, and we wanted to keep saying yes to him.

This past summer was a busy one for both of us. My job had me working almost every weekend in June and July, and Will did a lot of traveling for his job. We set aside time in August to visit both our families, so Will knew he wanted to propose before then. With our crazy schedules, there ended up being only one day that made sense: July 29th.

A few weeks before, Will called up key people, told them he was going to propose, and asked them to be a part of it. My mother was going to be in town from the 26th to the 28th, so he asked if she would stay a day later for an engagement party. He also called his mother and my close friends to ask if they would travel out to Steubenville for the celebration. Then he asked my friend Laura if she would figure out how to get me dressed up for the proposal, take pictures, and host the party.

About two weeks before the big day, Laura asked if Will and I could come over for dinner with her and her husband. We had been trying to plan a time for this, so it didn’t seem weird. But when she asked me a week later if we could get dressed up and go out instead, I knew something was up. And when July 29th rolled around and she asked us to meet her and Matthew at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Matthew and I both work there) and then “leave from there,” I definitely knew something was up.

We arrived on campus, and Will asked me to go pray for a while in the Portiuncula chapel, where there is perpetual adoration during the school year, while we waited for Matthew and Laura. They were “running late.”

So we prayed together, Will had some beautiful words to say, and then he asked me to marry him. We later found out July 29th was the feast of Ss. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. My favorite story in the entire bible is the raising of Lazarus. God knew.

It turns out the ring arrived that day at 11:30AM, so Will had been in a full-blown panic for several days before. And I never knew I wanted proposal pictures until I had them, when Laura was there to take them. It's an amazing gift to have pictures during and immediately following such a huge moment in our lives.

In the weeks since we got engaged, Will and I have only grown closer and deeper in love with each other. We’ve also tested each other’s patience and been frustrated with each other more times in the past month than all nine months before, mostly due to wedding planning stress. 

But that opened the door to some great conversations and has prompted us to learn how to better communicate. The lessons we are learning now will bear fruit in our marriage, and we are excited to keep learning and growing together, guided by the Lord.

From the Photographer: Allie and I met the summer before our freshman year of college. We have known each other for ten amazing years! She is one of those people that changes you and inspires you after just one conversation. She is a close, dear friend of mine, so it was an absolute privilege to photograph their proposal. 

Watching our Lord guide one of my best friends toward marriage has been such an honor. It's shown me in new ways how God knows us each so perfectly and completely. Will and Allie complement each other well; only the Lord knew exactly what they each needed in a spouse. I can not wait to see what the future holds for them. They approach their relationship, their work, and their friendships with the same amount of dedication and love, and I know the Lord will use them in incredible ways to show forth his glory!

Photography: Fire and Gold Photography | Location: The Portiuncula Chapel at Franciscan University of Steubenville | Bride’s Dress: Piper & Scoot