Below is Samantha and Eli’s adorable Bumble date-and-engagement story, as told by Samantha!

“I was starting to get frustrated because no one was catching my eye. (I’m picky! I can’t help it!)
I remember sitting in the living room early one evening going through the app. Suddenly, I saw this bright blue-eyed, bearded guy with a KILLER smile. 

The next day or the day after that, I got a notification saying that I had connected with someone. I opened up the app to see who it was – it was him! That blue-eyed fella said yes to me! I had this huge smile on my face and started a conversation with him. After talking for a few days and exchanging phone numbers, we made plans to grab lunch that Sunday.

Everyone that knows me knows how impatient I am. While talking to him that Friday night, I told Eli I wished I didn’t have to wait (it felt like FOREVER!). He agreed, so we made plans to grab dinner the next evening instead.

I remember walking out of my front door and seeing this guy – SO. DANG. HANDSOME. – waiting outside of a Camaro. Not only did he keep my attention while texting throughout the week, but he made me laugh so hard during dinner that I snorted! I was SO embarrassed! Luckily he thought it was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

Every week since we began dating, we’ve gone to Disneyland. We were both raised on Disney and have moms that are secretly obsessed with (almost) all things Disney. Eli and I both have annual passes, so weekly Disney fixes became our thing. Some weeks we went more than once (which I’m definitely not opposed to). The week of the proposal was one of those weeks.

We typically go to Disneyland and California Adventure every Tuesday because it’s Eli’s “Saturday”. While we were there that Tuesday, we began Christmas shopping for our moms. We looked at coffee mugs, figurines, and tree ornaments, but didn’t buy anything.

When we got home that night, Eli mentioned that he wanted to go to Disneyland on Thursday to buy the Mary Poppins ornament we had seen earlier for one of his mom’s birthday presents. Of course, I said yes (because I love his mom and I love multiple Disney trips). We got ready and headed out to the Happiest Place on Earth.

We got there and it was crazy! The entire place was packed. I felt like it took forever to get through bag checks and security. (I guess this is the part where he started to freak out a little because he didn’t want me to see the ring. Luckily, we got waved through security sans metal detectors.)

I asked him if he wanted to go to Disneyland or California Adventure first and he said, “Let’s do DCA first … It looks less crowded.” I obliged and we headed into California Adventure.

Our favorite ride is The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. (Apparently this is where he fell in love with me – I like to ad lib when the fish sing along with Sebastian during “Kiss the Girl”. You all know you’ve done it too!) We decided to ride that first. It was pretty busy so we stopped every few scenes for a couple seconds.

We stopped right before the ride transitions into the scene where Ariel and Prince Eric are in the boat during the “Kiss the Girl” scene. Eli said, “I love you so much, and there is no one I’d rather spend my life with. I can’t wait for all the adventures we are going to have.” I interrupted him saying, “Me too, babe. I love you too!” And as I was saying that, he says, “Will you marry me?” AND PULLS OUT THIS GORGEOUS RING!

Okay, I seriously LOST IT, y’all! I cried a happy ugly cry for a solid five minutes before I could even answer him, nodding my head yes and laughing and crying. It was seriously the most perfect moment, at the perfect time, on the perfect ride, with the perfect person.”

Thank you so much to Samantha and Eli for sharing your story with us. We couldn’t be happier for you! Congratulations and so much love from The Hive!

Nothing makes us happier than hearing Bumble Success Stories, especially when they end in engagements! To submit your story, email stories@team.bumble.com!