500 tiles · the first 33 are free

Help me ask her

Six years ago I met the love of my life, and every minute with her has become better than the last. I've known since the day we met she was my person, and her biggest dream is to start a family. We already have our little puppy. Now we want the marriage, the kids, the life together that comes after.

Early on we picked a goal date — married before thirty, her before twenty-five (there's a five-year gap between us). The reasoning behind it is real, and it's hers to share, not mine. But six years in, we are so ready to take the next step in our lives together.

Maui has been her dream trip for us the past few years. We haven't booked it — I have a backup plan, but this is what that money is for. If it comes together we go in November, and as far as she knows it's just the vacation she's been talking about for years. There's a road on the east side of the island that takes a whole day if you do it properly, and somewhere past the waterfalls, with a photographer hidden badly in the trees, I'm going to ask her.

She doesn't know

Not about the ring.
Not about the photographer.
Not about this page.

Five hundred strangers is how I get there. The first 33 tiles are free — that way if this flops I still have some messages from strangers to show her. The other 467 are $30, to help us fund this endeavor (budget below). Every tile holds a message — advice, a warning, a blessing, a joke. Whatever you may want to share with two people about to begin this journey, and your name goes with it.

When it fills, I print it, frame it, and it comes home with us. She reads all five hundred after she says yes — five hundred people who knew before she did.

Everything has to be bought and booked by October 1, which is why there's a clock on this.

128 of 500 strangers

372 spots left $2,850 of $14,000 — until the goal date

Where every dollar goes

The ring$5,500

I know this may be a lot, but it's her dream ring. If you knew her you'd understand why I won't bat an eye. She deserves everything and more.

Hawaii$5,000

Flights, our dream hotel in Maui for 4 nights, and an awesome open air jeep so we can take cute pictures.

The photographer$750

A full day, because that's what it takes to make the Road to Hana pictures work. You don't get to redo this one.

Dinner at Mama's Fish House$250

I went here once as a kid with my family. It was so beautiful I told my mom I'd celebrate my engagement there one day. Making that real would be a dream.

Food for the week$1,000

A wise man — my father, my idol — once told me food on trips comes out to about $100 per person per day. Some days more, some days less. That was 2010, so $1,000 for four nights, not counting the Mama's dinner, should just about do it.

Getting her ready$500

Nails and a nice dress beforehand. She won't know what it's for. The women reading this already understand exactly why this line exists.

Whatever goes wrong$1,000

You never know what happens on a trip. Resort fees, parking, the thing I haven't thought of. I'd rather cover my bases than come up short on the one day that matters.

Total$14,000

467 paid tiles at $30 comes to $14,010 — the extra ten dollars falls into the buffer line. Card processing isn't listed above because it isn't coming out of the total: a $30 tile costs $31.21 at checkout, and that $1.21 goes to Stripe, not to me. Every dollar in this table is a dollar that reaches the trip.

What happens after

If she says yes, the photo goes at the top of this page and the wall freezes exactly as it ended. Every message keeps the name of whoever wrote it. That part never comes down.

If the wall fills, the clock on this page stops counting down to October and starts counting down to the day I ask her instead.

If she says no, I'll put that here too, and refund anyone who wants it. I don't think she's going to say no.

Go to the wall →

the first 33 tiles are free ♡