THE MESSAGE-IN-THE-CORNFIELD PROPOSAL

THE MESSAGE-IN-THE-CORNFIELD PROPOSAL

THE MESSAGE-IN-THE-CORNFIELD PROPOSAL

by Molly McElaney

The Short Take

Travis chopped his proposal (“Allie Will You Marry Me?”) into the family cornfield, then popped the question with an aerial photo of his ephemeral work of art.

How He Did It

Travis Drexler and Allie Randall (now Drexler) went to the same high school, but never knew the other existed. Travis’ roommate (Allie’s cousin) invited him to the Randall family barbecue where Allie’s mom introduced herself to Travis and asked if he was single. She said her “daughter needed to meet a nice man.” Allie was pointed out to Travis and he was determined to meet her. They didn’t didn’t end up talking that day, but through mutual friends, and after four long months, Allie and Travis finally went on their first date. They’ve been together ever since.

Travis’ family owns an agri-tourism farm (i.e., one in which visitors are welcome). It was early June 2018; Travis and his dad were discussing corn-maze design options for their annual Fall corn maze. That was when Travis got the idea to write the proposal in the field. The process of designing and cutting took a couple of weeks. Travis mapped out the message on graph paper, then they both cut in the message when the corn was about a foot tall. The proposal itself had to wait a month for the stalks to grow tall enough for the message to be visible.

“The initial plan was to take Allie up in a friend’s plane or hot air balloon, but both of those plans were thwarted when I learned that Allie has a distinct fear of both!”

Since Allie was afraid of both planes and hot air balloons, friends of Travis’ offered to take an aerial shot of the corn maze. Travis then printed the picture, designed an engagement ring, and asked Allie to marry him at the end of July.

The Field of Dreams

Props

  • A cornfield
  • A tractor or reaper with which to create your message
  • A drone, or a friend with access to an airplane, to take an aerial photo of the message
  • The ring

Nothing Corny About This Wedding

Location: The family farm or any farm where you can get permission to carve out a huge message

A painter needs his easel, and a cornfield-farm proposer needs his cornfield. If your family doesn’t own one, you need to find a farmer that won’t mind you cutting up his field.

Springside Farm, where Travis made his pitch, is a diversified agri-tourism farm that specializes in Christmas trees, pumpkins and mazes, barn weddings, and summer day camp.

Cost: One Family Farm and Its Labor

Drawbacks: Long Wait Time (About Two Months)

This is not for anyone in a rush to propose and get married. You have to cut the design into the corn when it’s relatively low to the ground. But your message won’t be legible until the corn around it has grown for a couple of months.

Prep: Craft the Wording, Start Hacking

Travis said it best: “Keep it simple and think about how your bride-to-be will want to remember that moment. In my case, I knew Allie wouldn’t want an elaborate, public proposal. Although the corn maze became public after the proposal, the moment itself was very private and just between the two of us.” This only works during corn-growing season, of course.

Photos courtesy of Travis Drexler and Allie Randall. More info on Springside Farm here.

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