CALGARY – The holiday season is one of the most popular times of the year for men (and women) to get down on one knee and pop the almighty question.
But marriage proposals come with extra pressure these days. Family and friends aren’t the only ones eager to hear how it happened; your whole social media network will likely be watching as well.
Calgary’s Shawn Wright certainly impressed the latter – taking his proposal last October to new heights.
The 29-year-old had already proposed to his now fiancee in October of 2014. Maylynn Stephenson, 27, accepted on the beach and under a full moon during a surprise trip to Spain.
But the ring he gave her then was a stand-in; an exact replica of the ring he intended to buy her, once the money was there.
Once it was, he knew presenting the real ring to her needed to be special.
“I felt like just handing it to her wouldn’t be good enough. So I wanted to do something big. I thought about enchanting it – like, sending it up in space,” said Wright.
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It took months of research and planning to execute the plan.
“Her and I are kind of big space nerds so it kind of came together easy from wanting to send it to space to putting it together.”
He informed flight control and mounted the ring onto a wooden spatula with a GPS and GoPro attached. He chose an open field south of Calgary, and launched the ring into the stratosphere; over 30 kilometres into the air, using a high-altitude weather balloon.
“I was actually afraid for a little bit that it was going to hit the U.S. border because I was following it down the highway and following it and then it hit the jet stream and just went straight towards Taber, so it was perfect,” said Wright.
He presented the resulting video to Stephenson, along with the real ring soon after.
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He posted the video to YouTube Dec. 15 and it already has thousands of views.
“I’m glad I could share,” said Wright. “I think more people need to try harder to love boldly and be more creative about it.”
Wright and Stephenson plan to marry next summer. Wright knows he has set a high standard for himself and plans to continue finding creative, romantic gestures to surprise his bride-to-be for years to come.
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