Will you marry me? A thousand times, yes!

Jarryd Boyle, a Sparta High School graduate, reserved a dance lesson for Saturday, July 11, at Arthur Murray’s Dance Studio in Columbia, S.C., as a birthday gift for his girlfriend, Megan Michalski. Jarryd and Megan met at Clemson University and had continued to date long distance for an additional two and a half years while Megan finished college and Jarryd moved to Des Moines, Iowa, to work for Principal Financial as an actuarial associate.

Megan was looking forward to spending the weekend with Jarryd and attending their professional dance lesson. Megan, who danced for years, loved the thought of dancing as a couple.

Unbeknownst to Megan, Jarryd advised the Dance Studio that at the end of the dance lesson would be a proposal of marriage.

Jarryd arranged for a photographer to document the occasion. When they arrived, the dance studio told Megan and Jarryd the photographer was there for an event planned for later that afternoon, and asked if he could take photos of them to get the right lighting and angle shots. Megan and Jarryd said, “Of course.”

The instructor, Brittany, choreographed a dance in which, toward the end, Megan would walk away from Jarryd for four steps and then turn around and walk back. On the last dance, Brittany told Megan and Jarryd to remove their masks so the last dance could be more intimate.

Sure enough, Megan walked away from Jarryd for four steps. When she turned around, Jarryd was on one knee, holding the ring and uttering the words, “I love you! Will you marry me?”

Megan’s response was, “A thousand times yes!”

Arthur Murray’s Dance Studio was extraordinarily helpful in helping the two young people have a special engagement.

Megan and Jarryd will live in South Carolina while Jarryd works remotely and Megan attends the University of South Carolina to earn her masters. The couple is dreaming about a 2021 wedding.