Proposal Photos: Ziyue Wang and Hannah Tsai

Every once in a while, we hear from a newly engaged couple who are interested in being featured. Such was the case for Ziyue Wang, who reached out after he proposed to Hannah Tsai on Feb. 11. He hired India McCue of India Jade Photo to capture the event. 

Ziyue and Hannah met in high school, despite living in Columbus and Louisville, Kentucky, respectively.  

“We would run into each other every year for a few days when our churches would meet for a joint youth retreat,” Ziyue explains. “She’ll tell you that she remembers me as the loud guy, and I remember her as the quiet girl.”  

The pair reconnected briefly as students at Ohio State University, but were not close, and Ziyue left for medical school at Ohio University in Athens during Hannah’s sophomore year of undergrad. 

Then, “the stars finally aligned,” Ziyue says, when both he and Hannah were helping a mutual friend with her wedding here in Columbus—him as emcee, her as makeup artist. 

“The wedding was an exciting blur, and at the end of the day I remember looking at her and thinking I should reach out because she looked incredibly pretty in her black jumpsuit,” he says. “I approached her twice at the afterparty, full of confidence, and struck out both times.” Fortunately, Hannah’s friends encouraged her to reconsider, and a few weeks later, Ziyue’s third attempt was a charm. Hannah later reassured him that she only turned him down at the wedding because she was exhausted from the demands of the day and “only had eyes for the cheese cubes.” 

The pair have been dating for the last three years, nearly entirely long-distance, though Ziyue says they’ve made the most of any time spent together, including trips to Greece, New York and New Mexico. 

Ziyue began planning his proposal last fall, asking Hannah’s friends for tips. He selected a ring from International Diamond in Adrian, Michigan, and took Hannah to Mirror Lake, where they’d shared some of their first dates. 

“In classic Hannah nature, she didn’t realize the flowers that I’d laid out were for her until I was down on a knee,” he says. 

The couple are excitedly preparing for their wedding next summer.