Man Spends 365 Days Planning a Perfect Wedding Proposal

From the moment Dean Smith knew he wanted to marry Jennifer Kessel, he started planning the perfect way to propose. It took him more than a year to pull together his plan without his girlfriend discovering what he was up to. Last month, his hard work culminated in a touching, grab-your-hankie-before-you-watch proposal.

On January 8, 2014, Smith, who is from Scottsdale, Arizona, started videotaping himself holding up a whiteboard on which he’d written the big question. He held up the sign while reading, playing slots, in the shower, brushing his teeth, driving, washing dishes, eating, and more, showing how he thinks about her “literally every moment of every day.”

After 365 days, Smith compiled each vignette and put it on a tablet. Then, while on vacation with Kessel’s family in Aruba on her birthday, Kessel’s sister knocked on her door with another whiteboard that took her through the hotel, running into various family members along the way, each of whom held a different sign on her way to the beach. Eventually, she was instructed to sit on a beach chair and watch.

“I just wanted to let you know how much I love you, how incredibly smart, funny, caring and stunningly beautiful you are,” Smith said in the video. “To me, you are perfect."

Then, after all 365 whiteboards were flashed while Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” and Pharrell’s “Happy” played in the background, the video ended with Smith saying: ”Jennifer, I love you more than anything in the world,” he said. “I know that you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, but I want the timing to be perfect and make this moment special. For the next year, I’ll show you how much I love you and that you’re in my thoughts every day. I want to marry you.” With that, Kessel was instructed to turn around where Smith was standing in a tux behind her with rose petals on the sand leading her to him. He got down on one knee and finally asked her in person what he’d been waiting a year to do. She said yes, and the video has since gone viral with more than 7 million views. If only someone had told Smith about Hyperlapse.

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