- Esther Lee-The Knot
Pilot Inscribes “Marry Me” on Frozen Lake—And Proposes From Above

Snow sweet! A pilot-in-training carefully mapped out his proposal to his longtime girlfriend with the recent help of Mother Nature and his family.
Gavin Becker, an aviation student based in Minnesota, wanted to surprise girlfriend Olivia Toft with a sweet sky-high message inscribed in snow. The thoughtful engagement idea, however, required a snow blower, a frozen lake, and the help of numerous people so that Becker could carve a large heart and the words, “Marry Me,” large enough to be seen from an aviation standpoint.
Becker’s father, Ed Becker, told local news station KARE-TV that the entire proposal took close to 5 hours to build from the ground, and each letter alone was 25-feet tall. Once that was ready, Gavin took Toft out on a plane where he proposed from above.
The romantic gesture was made on a lake known as the Eight Crow Wing Lake. His father explained to Pioneer Press that the location holds sentimental value to the family. “We decided, in pilot style, he should propose in an airplane,” Ed told the Pioneer Press. “I actually proposed on this lake in a boat 28 years ago.”