Toddlers and small, expensive objects don’t always make the best match. A newly engaged mom and her fiancé learned — or relearned — this lesson the hard way when her toddler daughter accidentally dropped the engagement ring into the ocean during what her boyfriend thought would be the perfect proposal.
The whole heart-stopping moment was captured on video as so many proposals are. What makes this one different is that after the mother shared the moment on TikTok, it's gone viral in a major way. More than 30 million people have watched it!
The ring bounced around on the dock before tumbling down into the water.
Bride-to-be Stephanie, who goes by @stephanieariana0 on TikTok, shared the video of her boyfriend Luke bending down on one knee with 2-year-old Harpie in tow. Luke’s plan was for Harpie to open the box to present her mother with the ring. But either the force from her opening the box or her decision to grab it caused the ring to pop out of the box.
It bounced around before falling through the slats on the dock. As the ring fell down, Stephanie’s father immediately bent down to see if he could locate it. Thankfully, he was able to spot it.
‘I’m committing to both of them,’ Luke said.
Seconds later, Luke came out of his sandals, dropped his phone and wallet and dove into the water. Before the video ended, we heard that he’s managed to find it, much to Stephanie’s delight.
As you may have imagined, the TikTok caused a whole lot of questions from its viewers.
One was why they involved sweet, little Harpie. Luke had an answer for that.
“I’m committing to both of them. So I feel like both of them should be present,” he explained in a follow-up video.
The ring was 'kissed by the fish and mermaid,' the couple told their 2-year-old.
The couple explained that Harpie — a very bright toddler — was distraught about the accident and still talked about it days later. The couple assured their viewers that they didn’t yell at her.
They’ve since told Harpie that the ring was “kissed by the fish and mermaids” and blessed by the ocean. For Harpie's sake, it’s a good thing they found it!
Stephanie doesn’t remember much from the proposal.
She was a bit too distracted to process everything that was going on during the proposal. She said her only memory of the day was Luke coming back onto the dock, soaking wet.
Stephanie blamed her lapse in memory on her current condition at the time: pregnant, hungry, and needing to use the bathroom.
'Even if we had lost it, there would still be humor in it,' Luke shared.
Naturally, people have had commentary on the now-viral moment. A few even took things a little too far, commenting on the size of the ring. Others said the fact that Harpie dropped it was a sign from God that the marriage is not meant to be.
Luckily, Stephanie and Luke aren’t taking any of it too seriously. The couple both just think the moment makes for a funny story.
“Even if we had lost it, there would have been humor in it. Just sadness too,” Luke said.
Although things worked out for them, they have advice for people who might follow in their footsteps.
“Tie a string. Get some fishing line,” Luke advised.
Oh, and he suggested speaking positively instead of musing about what could go wrong. Luke said in the days leading up to the proposal, he and his friends and family kept joking about dropping the ring.
“I guess we did it to ourselves,” he said.
