Man Writes 14 Love Letters to Girlfriend Over 3 Years That Secretly Spell Out ‘Will You Marry Me’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ian Corcoran and Jessica Geralis.Photo:Caitlin Tuley Photography

Caitlin Tuley Photography

Over the course of their relationship, a man wrote 14 letters to his girlfriend that secretly ask “WILL YOU MARRY ME” when lined up together.

When Jessica Geralis received her first love letter from Ian Corcoran in January 2022, six months after they started dating, she didn’t think much of the first word starting with “W.” Had the first letter of the first word gone in order in the next 13 notes she received, she might have figured out that they spell out “W-I-L-L Y-O-U M-A-R-R-Y M-E” when put together. Cleverly, Corcoran gave the remaining love letters to her out of order, so Geralis didn’t know they would end up being part of his elaborate proposal.

Corcoran played the long game. He made a duplicate of each letter he wrote Geralis, saving them in a locked box. Once the final letter was finished, he framed the 14 letter copies together after organizing them into their proper order. This time he bolded and enlarged the first letter of the first words so that Geralis could clearly see that they spelled out a secret marriage proposal.

Ian Corcoran proposes to Jessica Geralis.Caitlin Tuley Photography

On Feb. 15, Corcoran was finally ready to pop the question at Palisades Park in California.

“He first handed me the final letter and gave me the frame, and I realized he signed the last letter saying, ‘Love, your fiancé’ instead of ‘Love, Ian,’ and when I looked up he was on one knee,” Geralis tells PEOPLE. “I immediately burst into tears.”

“I think we both blacked out a little because neither of us remember what he said, we were just both crying and he put my ring on,” she adds.

Despite being in matching outfits, Geralis honestly “had no idea” Corcoran was proposing. That day, she threw on a Parks Project crewneck. Seeing this, Corcoran thought it would be cute for him to wear his matching one she gave him for Christmas.

“It wasn’t my first choice for an engagement outfit but matching is very on brand for us and we joked that we accidentally made an elaborate ad for them,” Geralis says.

Ian Corcoran and Jessica Geralis.Caitlin Tuley Photography

A “sweet stranger” took the couple’s proposal video from a distance after she noticed their photographer walking around. Geralis shared the engagement video via TikTok on Feb. 19, captioning it, “Completely over the moon right now 🥰.” The heartwarming video now has about 4 million views and more than 750,000 likes.

“A lot of the letters call me his 4EAA (forever and always) and say how I’m the best thing that ever happened to him and how he’s grateful to be with me. Most of them allude to us spending the rest of our lives together but we talk about that all the time so I didn’t know that they’d be used for the proposal itself,” Geralis tells PEOPLE. “I had absolutely zero idea what he was doing.”

Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.PHOTO:Caitlin Tuley PhotographyJessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.PHOTO:Caitlin Tuley Photography

Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.

Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.

Jessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.PHOTO:Caitlin Tuley PhotographyJessica Geralis and Ian Corcoran.PHOTO:Caitlin Tuley Photography

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Despite growing up just 15 minutes away from one another, Geralis and Corcoran didn’t meet until they attended a mutual friend’s house party in Philadelphia in June 2021. The two instantly connected, so Geralis gave Corcoran her phone number. They talked “nonstop” for two weeks before Geralis flew out to visit Corcoran in San Diego, where he was living at the time.

“I asked him to be my boyfriend and we did long distance for a little over a year before I moved to San Diego with him in September 2022,” Geralis explained.

After the proposal, Corcoran brought Geralis to their friend’s apartment, where there was a surprise engagement party waiting for her. All of the couple’s friends in San Diego came to celebrate.

“It was the absolute perfect day and he’s the perfect life partner,” Geralis says.

source: people.com