A Downtown Charleston Proposal | Andre + Vannelly

Andre and Vannelly had planned a trip down to Charleston to celebrate Vannelly’s birthday. A few months ago, Vannelly had seen a book that Andre was making for her. He told me he had craft supplies spread out everywhere, so he just told her that it was for her birthday and not to peek. 

The day of the proposal, he told her it was finally time to give her the birthday book! They would walk around Charleston, find a nice park to sit in, and read the book together. Little did Vannelly know that I was sitting on the park bench, and once I saw them, I nonchalantly got up and wandered off. Andre led Vannelly to the bench, and they started reading. I was expecting it to be a couple pages, and then for him to get down on one knee. But Andre went ALL out with this book, y’all! I kept thinking that Vannelly might see me the longer she looked at the book, but she was enthralled with all the memories it contained. 

Once she finished reading, Andre held her hand for a second, and then got down on one knee. Vannelly was so surprised!! Andre did such a good job making her think of all this was for her birthday. She was already crying reading the book, and after the proposal she cried even more! It was fun to hear everyone in the park clap and yell “congrats!” to the two of them.

Andre and Vannelly met in high school, and Andre said he knew she was the one when he first met her. He played it cool for awhile, but finally told her that he didn’t want to leave Miami for college without her. Vannelly said that’s when she knew he was REALLY into her, because baseball is his THING. Being the sweet person Vannelly is, she told him that he had to go. If it was meant to be, they would end up together even if he went away for school.

And they DID!! Four years after he left for college, the two of them finally started dating, and the rest, as they say, is history! Andre was smiling from ear to ear after the proposal, and Vannelly couldn’t stop laughing and saying, “that just happened!!!” 

Y’all, thank you for letting me be part of such a special moment! What a beautiful story of two people who were meant for each other, were cheering each other on to achieve their goals, even if it meant waiting to be together. Here’s to so many happy years to come!