He Planned The Most Romantic Proposal in an Abandoned Church from the 1930s

Guys, GET READY. The moment we saw this super romantic proposal, our hearts skipped a beat and a tear or two may have been shed… All set? Okay, so here’s how it went down — Jayce loves Emily; Emily’s sister is a wedding planner – Sage and Stem. Emily expected to be modeling in a portrait session that evening at The Monroe Abbey, an abandoned 1930s church in downtown Phoenix (super cool, right?). Little did she know that her boyfriend, Jayce, had flown in that morning from Utah and was awaiting her arrival. Emily walked into the building as “Can I Be Him” by James Arthur began to play. A table was set up with candles and a gorgeous envelope with a letter from Jayce inside. When she looked up, Jayce was standing in the middle of the room surrounded by candles and asked her to be his wife.

Are you tearing up? We sure are!! Emily + Jayce are divulging all the details below. Now, let’s take a look at the heart-melting photos captured by Jonnie + Garrett!!

Emily shares It was July 15th, a Saturday evening. I had a photoshoot scheduled with Jonnie and Garrett for what I thought was for a watch company. I have worked with Jonnie and Garrett multiple times in the wedding industry, so I knew what amazing photographers they are, so that made me even more excited about the photoshoot!

It had been pouring rain all evening, so we were a bit nervous as to how the weather would affect the shoot. I arrived to the church about 35 minutes early. When I arrived, Jonnie asked me to hang tight in my car until she was able to come out and get me. While I was sitting in the car, I was thinking to myself, “Oh my gosh, could this be it? Could Jayce be here and could he be proposing tonight?” And then I stopped myself from thinking that… Jayce had been planning to come visit from Utah for a few days, and I thought he might propose during his time here. His flight was supposed to be arriving the following morning. Because of this, I stopped myself from thinking of the proposal.

After a few minutes passed, the rain finally stopped and Jonnie came out of the church to get me. We started walking around the back to get into the building. While we were walking Jonnie asked me to give her my car keys and phone that were in my hand so that Garrett could take a picture of me walking into the church because it was so pretty inside. I thought that was a bit strange because I wasn’t wearing the watch that I thought I had to wear for the photoshoot, but I gave her my things and continued to walk in.

While we were getting closer to the entrance, I heard a song playing that sounded familiar to me. I thought for a second that maybe this was what I thought it was, the proposal. We walked in and it was pitch black and when Jonnie told me to turn the corner, I walked into the beautiful church and I saw a little table sitting in the opening with a pretty glass box on top. There was a note inside, and that’s when I knew. It was the moment.

I immediately started shaking and started tearing up as I approached the note. I opened it and the first thing I read was, “I can’t believe today is finally here.” I was in complete shock. Jayce and I had been living in a long distance relationship for about a year. 

I stood there and read all 3 pages of the sweetest note ever written to me. I was reading for what felt like forever and when I was finished I looked up and I saw Jayce. He was standing there, tearing up and looking at me. I almost couldn’t move because I couldn’t believe it was really happening. I walked to him and we gave each other the biggest hug, both shaking and tearful. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I had been waiting for this moment since the day we started dating, when I knew I wanted to marry him. It was even better than I could have ever dreamed. I said “YES” and he put the beautiful ring on my finger and that was by far the happiest moment of both of our lives.

YES!!

Jayce shares: About a year ago, I decided to leave my hometown in the Arizona, and move to Utah so that I could finish my degree. Emily and I had been together for sometime at that point but I still was not ready for marriage yet. I knew I loved having Emily in my life and I wanted our relationship to continue to grow even if I was away. We both agreed that we wanted to put in our best effort to make this relationship work. It would be VERY hard and there would be a lot of sad or frustrating times but we were both committed to the relationship we had built and knew we would make it work. Since then, we have grown so much! We have had our FaceTime dates every Wednesday and Sunday night. We planned time to travel back and fourth between Arizona and Utah to see each other to make the time apart not seem as long. We had small road trips, and concerts, and holidays, and growth together during the time even when we were far away.

As we did grow together, I became certain Emily was the woman I wanted to marry and be with forever. Our conversations grew more and more and our engagement came up more and more, too. I told her that I would propose over summer. As we entered summer, I began to realize how difficult it was going to be to surprise her with a proposal. Emily is a planner, and a wedding planner at that, which made it extremely difficult to set up a time that I could surprise her by coming into town and proposing.

We finally decided that I would come in the middle of July and spend a few days together throughout the next week. We left it open as to exactly when I would propose so that I could attempt to surprise her. 

With the help of her sister, Katie from Sage and Stem Event Design, we made arrangements with a the photographers, Jonnie and Garrett, to set up a photoshoot for Emily the day before I was supposed to come into town. With the stage set, I arrived into town a day earlier then Emily thought and setup with Katie, who helped me with decor and all of the behind the scenes planning and arrangements, and Jonnie and Garrett and our families.

How gorgeous is that pear shaped ring?!

Following the proposal, both of our families came out from their hiding spots in the church. They were as excited as we were! My sister Katie, the owner of Sage and Stem Event Design, was behind the scenes of the designing and helping Jayce with the entire surprise proposal. We hugged our family members, who were all crying more then we were. After a few minutes, Jayce and I had our first dance as an engaged couple to the song that was playing while he proposed, “Can I Be Him” acoustic version by James Arthur. We still had tears in our eyes and kept talking about how perfect the day was, and how we couldn’t wait to spend forever together.

Um, EPIC is this only world to describe this. Right?!

Emily + Jayce, we are so thrilled for you + all the future things to come. Thank you for sharing this special moment with us!! (Also Jayce, nicely done!)

photography: Jonnie + Garrett Wedding Photographers // venue name: The Monroe Abbey, Phoenix, Arizona, USA // event design: Sage and Stem