The Perfect Proposal: Zach & Alastair

Written by: Manny Velasquez-Paredes Photos by: Zach Garcia & Alastair Patton

The perfect proposal - is it an ideal, a fantasy or can it really be achieved? Do you stress over it or does it just happen? Do you spend days planning it and perfecting every word or do you just jump at it because your heart tells you it’s the perfect moment?

There is NO RIGHT ANSWER to any of these questions. If you feel that the right person is in front of you and it’s the right time in your heart, then it doesn’t matter what is around you or when you do it.

Personal Example

My boyfriend, at the time, decided that on the 5th year anniversary of our first date, we would go back to the place where we first met, Bryant Park in New York City by the skating rink, and he would propose to me there. He bought the rings, he asked advice from my best friend and his best friend and off to the city we went.

He brought with him cards and notes we had exchanged throughout our five years, in order to set the mood. As we were reminiscing through our love affair of the past five years, he brings out the rings and asks me to be his forever.

As I dried up my tears from the emotions and as I say YES and kiss him, right in front of us a lady trips over a tree branch and hits the floor really hard. We both ran to help her and so did her companion and luckily she was not injured, but our precious moment in time was interrupted by what could have been a horrible injury.

After helping her, we both nervously laughed and commented on how this may not be a good omen for our new beginning. So, was this an imperfect proposal? I think not. I think it was one of the most romantic times we spent together, and although things didn’t quite happened the way he envisioned them, the result was the same.

We had a long engagement, 7 years to be exact, because it worked for us. However, Zach and Alastair, who live in Texas, experienced a completely different love story, different time-frame and modern way to meet: through social media.

Meet Zach and Alastair

We meet Zach and Alastair as the couple is putting together some new furniture for their new home, just a couple of months after their wedding.

Zach is 23 and from West Texas, but his dad is in the Air Force, so they moved around a lot throughout the years. He is the oldest of three and growing up wasn’t “always the best experience.” On the other hand, Alastair, who is 25, grew up in the Federal District of Mexico. His family moved to Texas when he was only 15 years old. He has two older sisters and a younger one and his family has always been very close.

Alastair first saw Zach in a YouTube video titled “The Gay Guy Next Door” and realized that Zach had all the qualities he had been searching for in another guy, which he thought was nearly impossible, but as luck would have it - they met.

Alastair romantically reminisces about the first time he saw Zach, “he had such a magnetism that I looked him up on Instagram and followed him right [away].” Zach also followed Alastair and they started “liking” each others pictures, which led to a private message, and a real life meeting a couple of weeks later.

They decided to become official boyfriends when they met. Zach says they discussed marriage throughout their love affair and they both planned on proposing to the other, but he just beat Alastair to the proposal and 6 months later, Zach proposed and the couple got married a year later.

Zach’s perfect proposal took time to plan. I actually first noticed the couple due to Zach’s proposal video and absolutely fell in love with their story.

Zach is a YouTube celebrity and creates vlogs, (66 at time of publication to be exact, with over 134,000 subscribers and over 11 million views) and has shared many of his personal thoughts and life through his YouTube channel - The Adventures of Zach and B, (his adorable dog, Bronson) so of course his perfect proposal planning process was recorded for the whole world to see.

The Proposal video, published almost a year ago, already has over 270,000 views and The Proposal Part 2 published around the same time, is close to 300,000 views - if you haven’t seen it and you want to fall in love with their love, check them out!

In the proposal video, we see Zach stressing about calling Alastair’s mom to ask for his hand in marriage, but he feels really strongly about having her blessing - so he rehearses what he wants to say, but in the end he just dials and starts talking. Alastair’s Mom quickly responds in a positive tone and you can feel Zach take a deep breath of relief. He hangs up and smiles - that smile says it all - he has overcome a huge hurdle.

Next of course, is actually getting “Baby boy,” as he lovingly calls Alastair, to say YES, so he rehearses different versions to ask for his hand in marriage.

They were going to meet in Denver, CO during Alastair’s birthday weekend, and Zach knew this was the perfect opportunity to pop the question. He remembers that “a lot of people said it was too soon to get engaged, but really, who can say that other than yourself? And for me, I knew long before that he was the one. I’d never before met someone as special as Alastair, or someone that I connected with on such an intense and natural level. So there was no hesitation for me.”

He thought of different ways to propose, but all along he kept saying to himself is, “if I lose him I’ll be the dumbest son of a bitch.” Since they were going to Colorado, he thought, maybe the top of a mountain, or other romantic places could be ideal settings. However, Alastair’s leg was recovering from a surgery, so hiking was not an option.

Finally he decided to do it at the airport. Zach says, “being in a long distance relationship, airports unintentionally turned into special spots for us. I met him for the first time at baggage claim, so that’s where I’d propose, right as he landed in Denver, so we could enjoy the weekend as a newly engaged couple.” Habitually, whoever was picking up the other person from the airport, would bring a sign or poster to welcome the other one as he got off the plane. This time, Zach created a “Happy Birthday” sign for him and he made a faux plane ticket, which instead of having the usual flight details, like boarding times, etc., it had the dates of their meeting, and the question “Will you marry me?”

Zach says, “it was damn corny, but it was original and personal to our story. When he arrived at the baggage claim, I presented him with the decoy sign, then whipped out the airline ticket.” While Alastair is reading the ticket, Zach started playing one of their favorite songs, Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” and he dropped to one knee, and held a watch in his hand in place of a ring. The couple had discussed the idea of exchanging watches instead of engagement rings.

Zach admits he was shaking and nervous, and as he started his fully rehearsed proposal speech, he “just jumbled up” his words and he says it did not sound romantic at all. Alastair admits that he didn’t fully understand what Zach was saying, but, Zach finally popped the question.

“Baby boy was so damn cute. That’s what I remember most. He was tired and surprised, and he just stared at me, jaw-dropped, without saying anything for a good half-minute that for a second I actually thought he might say NO.

But then he smiled real big, said YES and that was that. We hugged, we kissed, and I landed myself the best guy on this planet,” explains Zach.

Alastair admits that he was shocked when Zach proposed. He explains, “I felt like I was going to melt with love and excitement at building a life with my best friend. I was able to give him his watch and propose to him a few months afterwards which reaffirmed our commitment to each other.”

A double proposal. Their engagement story is a fast moving fairy-tale that not even Disney could imagine. The couple knew they wanted to get married during the summer, so they picked July 11, before Alastair had to go to ARMY training. Initially, they wanted a big wedding. Zach’s aunt, who owns a wedding planning business, was helping them.

They looked at several venues around Texas. They even got rejected by some for not being a “traditional” couple - in other words a “gay” couple. They looked at bands, cakes, the works, and things started to get crazy. Their guest list was in the hundreds.

Zach quickly decided to take the bull by the horns. “I’m a simple guy, so I suggested we cut out all the crap, bring it in to just our immediate families, and rent a beautifully set ranch for us all to stay at for the weekend, where we’d also get married.

Alastair was on board, and it turned out to be the most perfect, intimate occasion of our lives.”

Zach and Alastair met on social media. Zach’s YouTube channel has been witness to their relationship and their followers are vested in the couple. Zach and Alastair love the ability to go back and see the beginning of their relationship. “Not everyone gets to do that. When I started YouTube, I wasn’t at all interested in social media. No Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook was only for family to get in touch with me. If I’m honest, I could quit social media and be just fine. But it’s a great way to promote my videos, and I’ve gotten some awesome opportunities from it. Plus I wouldn’t have met my husband without Instagram, so I guess I can’t hate on it too much,” Zach laughs.

Zach also loves the amount of people that he has connected with on a personal level. He’s interested in people and their stories, “so hearing about my viewers’ lives has really given me a more open mind about things and helped me to learn about myself and what it means to be just one person in this massive world we share. I’ve always been stuck in my ways, so it’s been nice seeing other perspectives.”

For example, Zach remembers he made a video, and used the term “gay lifestyle” a few times when talking about living his life as an openly gay man. He remembers that some of his viewers called him out on that. “It really got me thinking. I’m from the South, and I’ve heard things said about gays my whole life. Naturally, some of those things, such as gay being a lifestyle, have stuck in my brain. Gay isn’t a lifestyle, though. And I thought, how long would I have continued thinking that if these people hadn’t said anything? I never would have even thought about it.”

Some people decide to have a long engagement, like in my case and others choose the short version. So, which one is correct? There is NO right or wrong answer. Take as long as you need to or as little to pop the question, and take as long as you need to be an engaged couple. Go with your gut feeling, just be sure to - DO YOU!