Man "Proposes" to His Fiancée's Little Girl, Widespread Weeping Ensues

By Alessia Santoro

Updated on 6/8/2018 at 9:00 PM

Mandi Gilliland

Get ready to weep, y'all.

In what may be the sweetest proposal we've ever seen, a single mom who found the man of her dreams got a huge surprise when her boyfriend got down on one knee in the middle of a gorgeous nature preserve. However, Grant had an even bigger surprise in store — after he asked Cassandra to marry him (and she said yes!), he then got down in front of her young daughter, Adrianna, and asked the little girl if he could be her daddy.

Photographer Mandi Gilliland, who has been friends with Cassandra for years, popped out of hiding to capture both magical moments between the trio, and the photos are absolutely stunning.

"I saw Cassandra's journey from the very beginning as a single mom raising Adrianna on her own," Mandi told POPSUGAR. "Witnessing all of the trials she had to overcome was heartbreaking, yet encouraging. Of all the things she had to walk through, she never gave up hope that one day she would find a loving and positive father for her daughter. As soon as Cassandra met Grant, we all knew instantly that this one was going to be her ever after. Once Grant reached out to me and expressed what he wanted to do for Cassandra and Adrianna, I was beyond ecstatic!"

In a post to How He Asked, Cassandra described Grant's proposal to her as one of the best moments of her life but had so much more to say about his "proposal" to her daughter:

After proposing to me, Grant got back down to propose to my daughter. He said, "Adrianna, can I be your daddy, to promise to love and protect you for the rest of your life?" As soon as he spoke those sweet words, I once again broke down in tears. Not the cute kind of tears either, the bawling type tears. My little heart could not take so much love!

My daughter replied in complete shock, "Thank you!" (As she has always been raised to use her manners when given a gift.) Grant then asked her, "Is that a yes or no, sweetheart?" She replied, "YES!" and then screaming with joy she said, "I FINALLY GET A DADDY, MOMMY, I FINALLY GET A DADDY!" He presented her with a beautiful heart necklace as a symbol that she now carries a piece of his heart with her.

Mandi says that being there to witness the proposal coming together was "beyond emotional," to say the least. "I got to see one of my dearest friends and an innocent little girl finally get her dream come true of having a daddy and family," she said. "As much as Cassandra was crying, I was crying too, as I got to witness and capture one of the most special moments of their lives!"