Lee Loechler/YouTubeWe are only ten days into 2020, and already the bar for adorably personal and romantic proposals has been set sky high.
A man from Massachusetts has gone above and beyond to make his girlfriend feel like a real-life princess, proposing via her favourite Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty.
Lee Loechler spent six months painstakingly animating himself and high school sweetheart Sthuthi David into the most famous scene of the movie, when Prince Phillip wakes Princess Aurora with a kiss.
Walt DisneyThe proposal took place at Brookline’s historic Coolidge Corner Theatre, where Lee filled a screening of Sleeping Beauty with family, friends and some kind helpers he’d found on Reddit, CBS Boston reports.
Footage, which has since gone viral, shows Sthuthi’s surprise and dawning realisation after the animated characters suddenly began to look very familiar indeed.
The animations show Prince Phillip, after giving his dozy beloved a smooch, flashing a cheeky grin to the camera, before appearing to chuck a box containing a diamond engagement ring into the audience. It is at this point that Lee catches the ring, and gets down on one knee.
You can watch the proposal for yourself below, just make sure you’ve got some tissues to hand:
The audience can be heard clapping and whooping, and even the animated characters appeared to look on in anticipation as Lee popped the big question:
It’s not every day you get to propose to your high school sweetheart. So I just want to take my time, savour this moment.
[…] I love you with my whole heart, including all of its ventricles, atriums, valves. […] Will you live happily ever after with me?
Fortunately, Sthuthi said a very emphatic yes, to the joy of the audience she had only just realised consisted mostly of her loved ones.
Lee Loechler/YouTubeThe video has had 3.4 million views at the time of writing, and has left people feeling very romantic indeed.
In his caption for the vid, Lee explained he had worked alongside Australian illustrator Kayla Coombs to get the perfect effect, with Kayla having since written the following statement on her Instagram:
SURPRISE!!! For the last 6 months I’ve been working with the incredible @yours_true_lee to execute the Sleeping Beauty proposal of his high school sweetheart’s dreams.
After many late nights sketching and colouring I might be even more excited that @stutzd4 said yes than he is! Lee, thank you so much for trusting me with your vision. It’s truly been an honour to be a part of this. Wishing you both the happiest of Happy Ever Afters.
Congratulations to Lee and Sthuthi on their fairytale ending!
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.