Kylie Anne Stiltner, Daniel Hoppe to wed
Harry Brian Stiltner and Cynthia Kay Stiltner of Lexington are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Kylie Anne Elizabeth Stiltner, to Daniel Lee Hoppe, son of John G. Hoppe III and Heidi Woudstra Hoppe of Lexington.
The bride-elect, a resident of Lexington, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Clemson University.
The bridegroom-elect, a resident of Lexington, is a graduate of Clemson now employed with Johnson Controls.
The couple plan a July wedding in Columbia.
In their own words
Q: How did you meet?
A: They met at Lexington High School.
Q: When did you know your fiance was “the one”?
A: If you knew them, you would know they were made for one another. He is the slow and steady to her chaos and crazy.
Q: Tell us about the proposal.
A: Daniel always takes Kylie Anne on surprise dates, so when he asked her to go on a mystery date on Sept. 8, 2017, it did not catch her off-guard. After work on that Friday, Kylie Anne rushed home to find her friends there helping her get ready for her date. She left with one nail painted red, so she knew that tonight wasn’t going to be the night that Daniel proposed. They went into Anderson from Clemson to go to Sullivan’s, which is a nice dinner spot – and a luxury to go to as broke college kids. They ate excellent food while enjoying each other’s company.
Daniel’s calm demeanor did not portray how nervous he was on the inside. After dinner, they drove back to Clemson when Daniel said he was taking Kylie Anne to watch the sunset. She begged him to take her home first so she could change out of her heels into her comfy Crocs, but he insisted there was not enough time. Daniel took Kylie to the university’s rowing docks, where the couple was known to go for picnics during the school year or swims with their friends over the summers. When the couple arrived to the rowing docks, the whole rowing team was there, packing up from practice.
Daniel laid out a blanket on the dock, along with a cooler filled with champagne and a speaker so they could listen to some Ed Sheeran. This still wasn’t surprising to Kylie Anne because he did this kind of thing all the time. After about 10 minutes, Daniel asked Kylie Anne if she would pour him a glass of champagne. When she went to retrieve the champagne bottle in the cooler, she noticed a note tied onto the bottle. She read it, and needless to say, it explained why she was oh so special to him. When she looked up from the letter, Daniel was down on one knee asking her to be his bride. When she went down for a kiss, the whole rowing team started applauding and chanting!
Her parents and his parents got to witness the action from the bleachers without Kylie Anne realizing it, and they came running down after it was apparent that she said yes. Shortly after, their close friends ran down to congratulate the couple, and the girls painted over her one red nail for the pictures. After celebrating with family and close friends, the couple went back to Kylie Anne’s apartment in downtown Clemson, where more friends had a party ready to celebrate their engagement.
This story was originally published February 4, 2018 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Kylie Anne Stiltner, Daniel Hoppe to wed."