After we posted photos of a street art marriage proposal on Monday, reader questions began pouring in. Was this a hoax? And more importantly, did the bride say “yes”?

Fortunately for romantics everywhere, this proposal was 100% real and took place on Friday. Caitlin, the lucky bride, was so impressed by her fiance Jeff’s gesture that she was struck speechless. She revealed to Downtown Traveler in an email,

“I honestly did not say yes right away.  I was so blown away with the mural and the fact that Jeff was proposing that when Jeff got down on one knee and proposed, I was thinking ‘yes,’ but I could not get the words out!  After a minute or two, Jeff said, ‘You didn’t say yes yet.’  And I replied, ‘Of course it’s a YES!!!’  I still cannot stop smiling and we are both so happy.”

>> Scroll down for photos and video of the proposal.

New York love story: Jeff proposes to his girlfriend Caitlin on Friday in front of a street art mural he commissioned. (photo: Caitlin Fitzsimons)

Why street art?

Both Caitlin and Jeff are fans of New York City graffiti. Jeff is a professional photographer who has snapped photos of street art; he even created a series for his website called “Bringing Graffiti to Life.” Caitlin explained,

“Over the past couple of years, Jeff has taken many pictures of me and street art. In particular, we have done a lot of exploring in the Lower East Side, since I used to live down there. Jeff has always loved the murals on 2nd Street and Avenue A. When he contacted TATS CRU, he knew that’s where he wanted the proposal mural to be!”

The street art marriage proposal, on Second St and Ave A in the East Village. (photo: L Koch)

Covert operation

Caitlin didn’t know that Jeff had spent months planning the proposal.  He enlisted the help of family members to keep the street art mural a secret.

“The street proposal was a COMPLETE surprise. He was very careful planning this mural and coordinating with TATS CRU. He had all emails and phone calls sent to his mom’s phone, so that I would not find out. As I was walking down Avenue A and approached 2nd Street, I could not believe my eyes. I literally was in shock,” Caitlin noted.

The street artist group TATS CRU had only five hours on Friday to complete the mural. Graffiti artist Nicer Nazario told Downtown Traveler in an email,

“We got a call about two months ago from Jeff the boyfriend asking about the wall space and his idea of painting his proposal… Well we started it at 10 am on Friday morning [while] she was at school and would be walking thru there at 4pm. We cut it pretty close, we finished at 3 and was outta there.”

When he got back to his Bronx office, Nazario found out via text message that Caitlin said “yes” to the proposal. He joked,

“I was glad because there’s no refunds if she would have said no, lol”

>> Click on this video to watch the proposal!

Video from GurwinProductions/YouTube.

Sweetest fiance ever

Caitlin is still enjoying a post-proposal glow. The event was written up in the Village Voice (with the opening line, “They actually make guys like this?”) and was shared on the EV Grieve blog.

The bride-to-be noted,

“Jeff, my fiance, is the sweetest, most caring person.  I cannot get over his creativity and originality with this proposal. It has been such an incredible weekend!”

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