New York Art Installation Turns Into Adorable Marriage Proposal

Meet Betsy and Peter! College sweethearts who’ve been dating for seven years, and now live in New York together.

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Image by Jordan Matter

2. They’re also huge fans of photographer Jordan Matter, whose New York Times bestseller, Dancers Among Us, features photos of dancers leaping in the midst of daily life.

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Image by Jordan Matter

3. Peter loved Jordan’s photography so much, that he bought five of his prints as an anniversary gift to Betsy in 2010.

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Image by Jordan Matter

4. Those five photographs hang in their Queens home to this day.

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Image by Jordan Matter

5. This past January, Peter decided he wanted to propose to Betsy in an epic way, so he emailed Jordan to see what he could do.

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Image by Jordan Matter

6. Jordan was gearing up for a “Dancers Among Us” art installation at the Grace Building…

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Image by Jordan Matter

7. Which would project images of Jordan’s stunning photography onto the outside of the building.

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The installation was commissioned by Arts Brookfield, which oversees free arts and culture programming throughout North America.

Source: Jordan Matter

8. On May 7, the first day of the installation, Jordan agreed to meet Peter and take a Dancers Among Us photo in Times Square.

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The photography session lasted more than an hour, and Peter had to jump well over a hundred times. Nothing like a little sweat to get the heart pumping, right?

Image by Jordan Matter

9. But he then did one better, and offered to include Peter’s photo the next night at the very end of the installation.

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Image by Jordan Matter

10. The Grace Building happens to be one of Betsy’s favorites in New York, but she almost didn’t make it to the show after a work meeting ran late.

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“I was nervous during the day Wednesday,” Peter told me. “It was raining. Her flight was delayed, and she had a work event ending at 8 p.m…Will the skies be clear? Will she miss it?” he wondered.

Image by Jordan Matter

11. Betsy sprinted to the installation, after Peter texted that she was “about to miss the best part!”

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It was their favorite photographer, after all.

Image by Jordan Matter

12. When she got there, she found Peter waiting, along with his leaping for love photo.

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Image by Jordan Matter

13. It took Betsy a bit to process what was happening, “It looked like Peter,” she said, “and then it was Peter.”

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Jordan told me that this was the first time he’d ever helped a couple with a marriage proposal, and he really enjoyed the experience. (Hey, maybe this could be the subject of his next bestseller?)

Image by Jordan Matter

14. Betsy said “Yes,” and I have a feeling they’ll be hanging another Jordan Matter print in their living room pretty soon!

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Congrats Betsy and Peter!

To see more of Jordan’s fantastic work, make sure to check out his website, or own his bestselling book, Dancers Among Us. (It might give you creative proposal ideas, at the very least!)