A lot of people ask me if I knew it was coming. I think women just have that sixth sense about them, especially when it comes to their own proposal. I had my nails done on February 3rd, so you could say I knew something was on the horizon. When my fiancé told me he had a shoot in Manhattan Beach on the 4th, I immediately got suspicious. As long as I’d known him, he’s never had a drone shoot in Manhattan Beach where we lived. That same day, my friend Daniella asked if I’d attend an event on the beach with her. That event would be my own engagement, and I happily obliged 🙂

It was a cool winter’s day in California, partly cloudy with high winds. Daniella came by to pick me up, and she did something she hardly ever does. She came inside. Typically I’d run out the door and jump in her car, but on this particular day, she wanted to double check my outfit.

“Cute! What else do you have?” she said as she hugged me. HA. Apparently whatever I was wearing wasn’t up to this event’s standards. I appreciated her honestly and promptly changed into a body suit and dainty skirt, hopeful that it would suit her proposal outfit expectations. It did, and we got in the car. This is us awaiting the green light text from Alex, unbeknownst to me at the time.

As we walked towards the “event,” I hardly noticed any individuals on the beach. No tables set up. No nothing. By this time, we’d taken off our shoes and began walking on the sand towards a few random people out in the distance. Daniella started to slowly fade into the abyss while Hugo, Alex’s good friend, appeared with a massive contraption on his person. Alex and I both work in the media industry, so of course this was going to be a large-scale production or nothing at all!

The beaches in LA are vast, spanning many feet wide. I had a good amount of seconds to begin processing what was about to happen, and then Alex came into focus with a rose in his hand. Oh, no. Nooo no no. I hate roses. “Please don’t propose with a rose, please don’t propose with a rose,” I thought.

“Lesley, will you accept this…” he began to say. And then, just like that, he stopped.

*throws rose to the side, drone lowers model airplane with attached ring box for proposal*

It was a nod to my past while ushering in the most creative and unique proposal of a lifetime. I’ve already cried a handful of times today, exactly one year later, reminiscing with the love of my life on such an epic engagement. Even though we had to put wedding planning on hold for an entire year+ due to the pandemic and not being able to get in/out of Australia, we are incredibly excited for what’s to come in just a few week’s time. In one year, so much can change. I said a resounding “YES” to the love of my life, have lived through a pandemic, pivoted my business focus, moved across the country, and am only days away from giving birth to our baby girl. I am forever in love with this one life full of nonstop adventure. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So. This is how everything played out in video and photos below. I want to send our utmost gratitude to Mike Lindle, Mike Bishop, Hugo Bordes, Kevin Powers, Anthony Valerio, Andre Estevez, Tony Dimaria, Steve from Diamond Cut Films, Alex Castillo, Trent Siggard and James Sykes – it’s because of YOU that we’ll have these memories for years to come!

Photo credit below: Mike Lindle

The Prep

The Proposal

The Aftermath