Watch a Heartwarming Wedding Proposal at Birmingham's Iconic Vulcan Statue

Charlie King and his longtime girlfriend, Shondra Parker, have been together for seven years and share two daughters.

On Saturday, King decided it was time to propose.

He wanted to do it dramatically with a nice view of Birmingham. “I wanted to overlook the city,” King said. “That was the main thing.”

So, he stationed himself under the Vulcan statue at Vulcan Park, put up a sign that said, “Will you marry me?” and had a friend scatter rose petals.

He recruited another friend to bring Shondra to the spot.

“The hardest part was making sure that everybody showed up, and that she showed up, and nobody tipped her off,” King said.

“She didn’t know,” he said.

As Shondra realized what was going on, King went down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and popped the question. She said yes. Their daughters, Charlotte, 3, and Chloe, 1, stood alongside and witnessed the proposal.

Shondra said afterward she was surprised. “I had no idea,” she said.

Charlie works as a real estate agent, and Shondra is a health care specialist. They live together in Homewood, about three minutes from Vulcan Park.

King is glad everything went smoothly with the proposal. “It was a good location,” he said.

A crowd gathered to watch the sunset eavesdropped on the proposal, with tourists cheering even from the Vulcan overlook tower beneath the statue.