Two of her best friends from college who live in California planned a trip to visit each other in Austin several months, and they invited Briana and I. Knowing I wanted to propose somewhere in that time frame, I thought that she would love to share this time with some of her best friends, so I started shopping for the ring, while consulting these two friends on both ring design, and proposal plans.

Our first day in Austin, we decided to go to Franklin’s BBQ to eat, and one of the girlfriends had suggested going to Zilker Park afterwards. This was all planned out ahead of time without Briana knowing. So, at the park we walked to a gazebo that looked out over the water that had the Austin skyline in the background. Her friends sorta went off by themselves to give us some space, and here I told here how much I loved her and wanted to spend my life with her etc… Got down on one knee and showed her the ring. When the ring was pulled out she kept repeating “No! No! No!” obviously out of shock, and eventually answered yes to the question.

Afterwards we had some champagne that her friends had snuck into the park. Later that night we all went out to a nice dinner in downtown Austin.

 

-Richard Keyes