Her Story:

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio into a large Irish Catholic family. I am the second oldest of six “J” girls! My family moved to Atlanta, GA when I was 9, and I’ve called the ATL home ever since. I attended The University of Georgia and graduated in 2007 with a degree in Finance. Shortly after graduation, I moved back to Atlanta and began my career as a Consultant with Protiviti Consulting, where I am currently a Manager. When I’m not traveling for work, I love to spend time with my family and friends, play tennis, go to concerts and travel with Jarrett!

His Story:

I was born in a rural, coal-mining town deep in Appalachia called Richlands, Virginia. I have one amazing sister named Robin and although she is several years my senior, I will always play the role of her older brother! I attended Virginia Tech and studied Computer Science and Business while writing and playing music with some of my best friends. After graduation, I’d had enough of the rural life and was looking for a big change, so I moved to New York City on a whim. After three amazing years in New York, I started moving south:  first to DC and then again to Atlanta to be with the love of my life!

Their Story:

Jarrett and I met in California at a week-long work training; we had both been recently promoted to Senior Consultant at Protiviti, and were required to attend training for our new roles. We met the first day of training and quickly hit it off. At the end of that week, we went our separate ways – Jarrett back to DC and me back to Atlanta – but remained in touch as friends. Over the next year, we dated other people, Jarrett backpacked through Europe, and I kept busy with work. A little over a year later, we decided to take a chance and “see if there was anything there” by me booking a flight to spend the weekend with Jarrett in DC. (I don’t think I had ever felt more anxious during a flight than that one – and trust me, I have been on tons of flights!) The weekend couldn’t have been more perfect and just confirmed what we had already felt prior to our visit – that we knew there was “something” and that we needed to pursue it. After a little over a year of long-distance dating, we decided that seeing each other every 2-3 weeks wasn’t enough for us, and we were ready for the next step – Jarrett moved to ATL.

The Engagement (L’engagement):

My proposal to Jackie started nearly a year before I ever asked her to marry me. Each year, the two of us take a trip to celebrate our mutual September birthdays. That year we had travelled to Sonoma, California to explore  a few vineyards and load up on delicious food. For her present, I surprised her with plane tickets to Paris for the following April without mentioning that I intended to propose to her while we were there.

As the date of our trip approached, I really wanted the proposal to remain a surprise, so I encouraged her to plan out all the details of our trip (since I had already been and this would be her first time in France.) At least once, she threw up her arms in frustration with my apparent lack of interest, saying, “I just have to realize that if we are going to have anything planned on this trip, I’ll have to do it myself!” I felt a little bad, but I was committed to my plan!

In the meantime, I was actually elbows deep in logistics to try and pull off my surprise proposal. I had purchased the ring which was tucked away in the secret confines of my sock drawer. I booked us a romantic dinner at Le Reminet and arranged a photographer to meet us in Paris at the center of a bridge – the Pont de Bir-Hakeim – which has an amazing overlook of the Eiffel Tower where I planned to propose.

Once we had landed in Paris, I began to really feel the anticipation and stress. Would the weather hold out for us? Would the photographer arrive on time? I had no working phone in Europe and no way to contact her if any plans went awry. Would Jackie be in a sour mood after that French pigeon pooped in her hair on our way to the Louvre?

Yet, somehow, everything came together and we made it to the bridge with the photographer waiting, undercover. Jackie believed only that we were on our way to dinner.

What I had failed to anticipate was that this would be Jackie’s first view of the Eiffel Tower and once we got out to the middle of the bridge, she immediately pulled out her own camera and began taking her own tourist photos before I could even begin my planned speech! After what felt like an eternity of her photos, I said, “Sweetheart, maybe you can put your camera away for a minute…”

Jackie’s hands covered her mouth and she looked at me with her knowing look as I got down on my knee. I told her that I loved her more than anything in the world, that she was the most beautiful person, inside and out, that I had ever known. That I was the luckiest man in the world and that I would be honored if she would spend the rest of her life with me.

She looked deep into my eyes and replied, “Are you seriously proposing to me in front of the Eiffel Tower?”

“Well…yes? I know, it’s a little bit cliche, right?”

All right, all right. I guess it was. But, that’s just my style.

Luckily, she did say a very enthusiastic yes to me after that! The photographer came out of her hiding place and stuck around with us to take pictures around Paris for the next hour or so. But, the minute – no – within seconds of the photographer saying goodbye to us and walking off into the crowds near Notre Dame Cathedral, Jackie turned to me and all of the tears that she had somehow managed to fight back during the photo shoot came pouring out. While she dried her eyes, we sat together and watched the sun set.

It was the most awesome day and I am one seriously lucky bastard.

– Jarrett