Luke and Sarah met in the summer of 2022 thanks to a well-intentioned matchmaking attempt by mutual friends, Connor and Aree. Both were skeptical of being set up, but reluctantly agreed. Luke sent Sarah the first message on a Sunday, and by Wednesday they were heading out on their first date.

July 13: Their first date was in Fort Langley. What Sarah remembers is Luke trying to remain as neutral as possible. He was clearly nervous and didn't want any of his answers to scare Sarah off. Sarah filled the quiet moments by being extra talkative (and perhaps a bit of oversharing). Despite all this, they both felt there was something there.

July 29: Their second date was meant to be Thai food and a walk, but a 40-degree heatwave quickly changed plans, and the rest of the date was spent in the nearest air-conditioned building: a 7-Eleven.

August 13: The third "date" is their favourite story to tell: Luke was meant to join Sarah for the dancing portion of her brother’s wedding, but after a miscommunication, Luke ended up spending the day waiting in his suit at his Grandma's house. Luckily Sarah snuck away from the reception and they were able to see each other again that evening.

That was the night that changed everything. By August 26, Luke was asking Sarah to be his girlfriend and only 1191 days later, he was asking another question...

As Luke was finishing up his final days of classes for the semester, Sarah, subtly suspicious and quietly hopeful, asked Luke to come visit her for the weekend. He agreed to try his best but by Saturday morning things weren't looking good. Sarah held on to hope (and suspicion) that maybe it was all a trick. After all, his mom had slipped that she was on a "tiny" Pacific Coastal flight. Maybe there was an extravagant proposal in the works. After waiting all day, Luke delivered the news that he was not able to get on the plane. Insisting that he try to drive up the evening, Sarah pushed back her disappointment by offering to help Marissa (her sister in law) with a project, offering to drive over to her home immediately. Marissa made several excuses for Sarah to wait at her own house, driving over immediately and putting on a great show of dismay that Luke had not made it on the flight.

She reassured Sarah that nothing romantic was happening. But rather, there was meant to be a surprise "promotion party" for Sarah that evening, so Luke missing the plane, meant that Marissa's "big surprise" wasn't going to work out. Hence her (now understandable) frustration.

Secretly disappointed, Sarah believed every word. On the way to Marissa’s house, they received a call from a distressed friend stranded at Palm Beach, prompting a sudden detour.

Dejected and trying to put on a good face, Sarah tried to be excited about the party in her honour that evening, while texting Luke a game plan of how he could still arrive that evening (just late to the party).

Arriving at Palm Beach Marissa left the car to go help her friend on the beach while Sarah waited in the car. Within minutes Marissa was phoning for help, so Sarah began trekking down the hill. It took a little while but eventually she saw Luke, standing on a picnic blanket with champagne, candles, and roses, ready to get down on one knee.

Unbeknownst to Sarah, Luke had never planned to fly. He’d taken the first ferry that morning and spent the entire day preparing. After the proposal, they returned to Marissa’s house for what everyone thought was a promotion party, only to discover it was an engagement celebration instead.

The Proposal

Photo: Taken August 27, 2022, North Vancouver

Photo: Taken November 29th, 2025, Powell River

Photo credits: Marissa in a bush