It was a tale as old as time for a soon-to-be bride named Cara, whose boyfriend (and, now, fiancé) went above and beyond to bring her Disney fairy tale fantasy to life before popping the question. In a series of photos posted to Imgur, user jel2930 shared the process—and results—of his elaborate Beauty and the Beast themed proposal scheme.
“She grew up admiring Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Wanting to recreate the famous scene, I decided to make her the dress to coincide with my proposal,” he explained. This involved getting to work with a sewing machine in a basement to craft the iconic yellow ball gown; he learned to sew just for this project, he said in a response to comments on the site. (Incidentally, there are similarities to the Cinderella story to this part of the tale, including the basement used to stage his plan.)
When the time was right and the ring was purchased, he surprised Cara at the Iowa State Parks Library, where he said she is a student librarian. He had the dress set up in a side room, he said, and convinced her to don the extravagant canary satin confection and head to the cleared-out Periodicals Room. Lucky for him, she seemed positively bowled over by the proposal, based on the pictures—and said yes.
“Lights, music, library, dress, ring. Couldn’t ask for more,” he summed it up. Here’s to their happily ever after. You can click through the full story below:
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com