Luke & Alana
LukeHoats
&AlanaStart
September272024
Tunkhannock, PA
Our Story
How We Met
You know the awkward part of a church service where the pastor asks the parishioners to greet the people around them? Well that is how Luke and I met. As soon as we saw each other we knew there was something special about the other person. It wasn’t even a few hours after the service before Luke found me on social media, and as we got to know each other our conversations soon became too long for over the phone. Just a week later we had our first date, which to our surprise ended up lasting eight whole hours and spanning from lunch, to coffee afterwards, to window shopping a bit, to finally joining me on campus for some studying where he met all of my friends. Our early dating relationship felt more like getting reacquainted with an old friend than getting to know someone new. We never could have anticipated that God would bless us with such an incredible love so out of the blue like that. ~ Alana
The Proposal
It all started in January, when I went out and bought the ring. Of course she had no idea, but it was a long few months of keeping it a secret. I was given some rules to follow when it came to the proposal. 1. No sporting events 2. No large crowds 3. No Restaurants. I did not want to propose in front of a large group of people either, I liked a more romantic, secluded spot for the proposal. In March, she brought up to me that she really wanted to go see a Christian artist named Chris Renzema. The concert was going to be held at Liberty University in Virginia on April 5th. After going back and forth, we decided we wanted to go. As we were looking at the trip, she noticed that we were closer to South Carolina than we were getting back home. She had mentioned to me several times that she really wanted to be proposed to at this scenic overlook called A Pretty Place in South Carolina. It was a church located in these beautiful mountains. There is where I will propose. The plan was to go visit her grandparents in North Carolina the morning after the concert, after visiting her grandparents we were going to visit her friend in North Carolina, and after that we were going to A Pretty Place. I was going to stage it as a self-couples shoot. I had a camera, a tripod, and a remote for my camera that would take pictures. I was never going to take pictures. As I set up the tripod, I would hit the record button and record the proposal. Everything went according to plan, except when we got to A Pretty Place, it was absolutely packed. Not good. So, after taking in the views, I looked around to find a place to take her away from people to pop the question. I took us down a trail, and as I was scouting a place to do it, Alana saw a branch that was oddly shaped and couldn't help herself to want to take photos in front of it. She had just chosen her proposal spot. I hit record, and the proposal went on without a hitch! ~ Luke