Even though Gator football failed against Louisiana State University this season, a Gator grad won his sweetheart’s heart forever that day.
Taylor Bomarito, a UF alumnus, proposed to his girlfriend of three years, Keri Hoefer, a UF alumna, outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Oct. 10 in a simple yet permanent way: a brick on the Gator Walk with the words “Keri, Marry me? Love Taylor.”
The couple met during their last semester at UF in 2012 through a mutual friend while at the Salty Dog Saloon in Midtown. Keri said she knew within two weeks that they were going to be together for a long time. At the end of the semester, she moved to North Carolina for an internship, and Taylor went with her.
The weekend of the game, they made the long drive from Raleigh, North Carolina, down to Gainesville to enjoy gameday with their closest friends. They went to Salty Dog early in the evening with family friends, and Taylor mentioned taking a photo on the Gator Walk for this year’s Christmas card.
On the way there, he started talking about the bricks and how they are there forever.
Then, a friend pointed out their brick.
Taylor got down on one knee.
Keri was in so much shock that she didn’t even hear what he said. She knew he was thinking about proposing but thought he was going to do it during Christmas with family.
She was completely surprised when she saw the large brick.
Taylor had started thinking about proposing back in August 2013. He knew he had to do it in Gainesville, where they both had history. He imagined them in front of the stadium and knew it should be there.
He called brickorders.com to engrave the brick back in July. It told him that the deadline for the bricks was in June, and he’d have to wait until April to try again. He said he got lucky at the last minute, and his order was approved. Shelly Gulerandson, from brickorders.com, said the bricks on Gator Walk are never removed.
From there, he started planning how to get together in The Swamp with their friends without raising suspicion.
Megan Lawrence has been friends with Keri since elementary school — she was even there the night they met. Taylor told her about his plan at the end of July, and her job was to gather mutual friends at the game and keep Keri in the dark.
“I don’t even know how I kept that secret,” Megan said. For now, the couple is planning on moving back to Florida. While there’s no solid arrangement yet, the couple is planning to get married in about a year, Keri said.
“We’re ready to see where life takes us.”
