On the rainy afternoon of June 22, Utah native Livy Norman, her twin sister and her best friend hiked up the north side of Alpine Trail to “take pictures” with the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
With mustard-covered fingers and onion breath, Norman was shocked to find the love of her life, Collin Englebright, at the top of the hill. He kneeled and revealed a custom-designed ring, asking Norman the question she was anxiously waiting to hear: “Will you marry me?”
According to Englebright, he decided to vlog the entire trip, proposal included, as a gift to Livy and his brother. He “threw the video together in an hour” once the couple returned home and posted it to TikTok.
The video has garnered over 300 thousand views over the summer, far exceeding Englebright’s expectations. Englebright and Norman have enjoyed reading comments from adoring Coloradans with their families.
“I think it made the proposal more memorable,” Norman said on a Zoom interview. “All these people from Colorado think it’s so special, too.”
Englebright and Norman grew up alongside each other in St. George, UT. Although they attended high school together, the pair hardly interacted, until Norman appeared on Englebright’s “people you may know” on social media.
The two followed each other, then Englebright reached out to Norman via direct message months later. At first, their feelings were completely platonic and neither of them were looking to date but felt like they needed to try to get into the dating world.
After a while, Norman said, “everyone outside [the relationship] knew” that they had stronger feelings for each other than they let on. Norman hinted at her love for Englebright, saying things like, “I really, really like you,” hoping one day he would take the hint. In December 2023, they made their relationship official.
Norman journeyed from St. George, UT, to UCCS as a counselor at For the Strength of Youth, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints summer camp.
After a week and a half of missing his sweetheart—what “felt like three weeks” to him—Englebright packed a bag and headed for Colorado, telling Norman he was off on a fishing trip with family for the weekend. Despite forgetting his pants and phone charger, he remembered the ring, a picnic blanket and several pictures of them together, all the most important elements of his surprise.
“I had to work really hard to make her think I was home,” Englebright said, noting his fiancée’s unique ability to detect surprises.
On the day of the proposal, Englebright made his way to campus and found the perfect spot at the peak of Alpine Trail while Norman was off campus visiting Garden of the Gods. He taped pictures of them onto a blanket and picked wildflowers off the trail to set the scene.
Englebright said he kept his eyes on the weather all day but couldn’t beat Colorado’s afternoon thunderstorms. He was worried the weather would ruin his set up. Little did he know, being proposed to in the rain was one of Norman’s proposal dreams.
“I never told him this, I told my family members,” Norman said. “I’m like, ‘oh man, I would just love to be proposed to in the rain. It’s so romantic and so magical,’ but I never told him because it’s an unrealistic expectation,” Norman said.
As Englebright set up, Norman was enjoying a barbecue in Alpine Village with her best friend and twin sister. After the barbecue, they insisted she come take pictures with the mountains at the top of the trail. On the walk up, she saw Englebright but initially assumed he was “just some college student from the dorms.”
Norman was in “so much shock” as she realized the man before her was her boyfriend. “My life slowed down…I was shaking. I was so excited, kind of nervous, because I was, like, ‘oh my heck this is happening right now,’ but it was more exciting for me than anything,” Norman said.
“Honestly, I forgot about the ring,” Norman said, despite her asking Englebright to make the design a surprise when he proposed. “I was just so excited he was there proposing…It was gorgeous when I did see it. It was the best surprise ever.”
Englebright and Norman are planning their wedding for Oct. 11, 2024. Norman already has her dream wedding dress on the way. The couple is excited to celebrate their love surrounded by family and friends.
Livy Norman and Collin Englebright. Photo courtesy of Collin Englebright.