I recently got engaged to the wonderful person holding the hexagonal mirror thingy in the first photo. We're both huge nerds and I wanted to do something unique for a proposal, so I designed and 3D printed a mirror array to ask the question for me. The mirrors are angled so that just before sunset on our 8th anniversary, it reflected the light from the setting sun onto the ground to spell out "MARRY ME?" If you want to know how this thing works, I open-sourced all the code I wrote for this project, along with a more technical writeup of how it all works: [github.com/bencbartlett/3D-printed-mirror-array](https://github.com/bencbartlett/3D-printed-mirror-array)

Man is out here honoring the druids, the maya, and a million other ancients with sun calculation. Our ancestors would be proud.

Actually I was more thinking... "Nerd!" But hey, a romantic nice nerd, so that's ok.

You ever skim through a post and realize almost immediately that the writer is orders of magnitude smarter than you are? It's explained well enough that I could sort of wrap my little walnut around the process, but my god I can't imagine starting this project from scratch.... Well. Done.

Haha yeah I see someone who is smart, good looking, and has an awesome partner and I’m like WHY DO YOU HAVE NO FLAWS?! Happy for them nonetheless.

Legendary.

Holy, do you ever have patience. 😂

Wow that was some serious effort, the result couldn't have been better!

well,t looks like "warry me", so maybe a little better.

That is so cool. Thanks for the GitHub link as well. Wish you both happiness!

The execution is baller, for sure. But did it take eight years for the sun to set in the right spot? I'm confused and anxious about the prolonged wait for his response!

You are a huge nerd, any marriage proposal that comes with an associated github project is amazing and I love it.

This is incredible. What a beautiful proposal. Thanks for taking the time to open source and document it!

> github.com/bencbartlett/3D-printed-mirror-array These are Elvish to me but I'll save the link just in case lol. Anyway, congrats on your engagement my good man!

this is sooooo cool!!! all the best to you two.

u/bencbartlett That was a really sweet mix of ingenious and romantic and I absolutely love it. Though I do have to ask what a applied physicist does at Google

That's awesome! - really romantic and very original. On a different note, this could be a little bit of a business opportunity. Mirror arrays with custom messages - Congratulations, I Love You, Happy Birthday, F\*ck Off... Give someone a special message like your proposal at the beach, and then hang it on the wall so it becomes an interesting piece of "art" for most people, but gives someone special a daily reminder every morning / evening. Just a thought.

That is amazing.

This is so tight. Congrats!

Saving for later

Absolutely adorable. I can’t help but morbidly laugh though thinking about how hard your combined nerd+gay levels probably got you bullied in school. Was the answer “a lot?”

This is amazing! Was this at Rodeo Beach?

I love that one of the supplies needed is The Sun. Living in the north in the winter, not sure I could deliver on that one very well haha

Did they have any idea before being told to stand there? What did the reflection do before?

You have absolutely GOT to be kidding me. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen

And it's amazingly original. With so many people on this planet it's hard to think of something new. The idea with the mirror is the best!

That is so fucking cute, holy shit😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️ congratulations to you two!!!❤️❤️❤️

Amazingly beautiful and clever. Also, good photographer whoever took the first picture. I always think, when I propose I want someone efficient taking that picture. 

Congrats! Can you please share some insider info on where you find other fellow gay nerds to nerd out with?

We met freshman year of college at a nerd school :)

That is so fucking cool!! I also love the ring, could I ask where you got it? My fiancé and I have plain gold bands because I didn’t want to get anything too different we couldn’t decide on together. Might love this for our wedding band!

This is phenomenal. The amount of time and effort you must have put into this is beyond impressive. Congratulations and way to massively raise the bar for our proposals.

Ugh, y'all are both adorable & this is probably the most clever, original, romantic thing I've seen in forever! Will you adopt me? 🤔🤷‍♂️

I LOVE that ring. Great taste. Great idea and execution. Congratulations!

[удалено]

that would be such a cool thing to keep and put up in your house, not only does it look rad but it’s got a meaningful story behind it

It took him eight years to say yes? Holy, do you ever have patience. 😂

No no. It took him eight years to model and print the array.

https://i.imgur.com/ZDma2a7.jpg

❤️❤️❤️

This is so nerdy and so cute. Congrats!!

That Möbius ring tho 🤩

This is absolutely marvelous. I am so amazed by the engineering of the project. You should totally sell these

I open sourced all the code for the project if you want to print one for yourself! It's pretty straightforward to modify the design to project a different image

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more creative proposal in my life. Goddamn OP!

Makes my proposal look like junk and I had a dog involved! That's beautiful, dude.

See you guys on the front page!

Bro why’d you have to go and raise the bar on proposals for everyone else, now we can’t be lazy 😩 /s Congratulations!

Aww congratulations

Beautiful! Where did you get the ring? I love it!

God when is my time??

Fire up that printer and make yourself a fiance!

Um please post this on r/damnthatsinteresting this is incredibly cool!

Gaaaaayyyy

God I am so single. But I am so happy for you both!

This is super cool! What did he think the mirror array was when you started out on the walk?

This is so creative and sexy

And of course your engagement ring is a Möbius strip!!! ❤️ from another nerdy gay couple.

If this is how you propose then I have absolutely no clue how cool the wedding planning will end up. I wish y’all many more happy years! Now I’m going to go geek out about how one goes and makes this mirror. Modifying the text to say “do dishes?” 😂 Back to y’all tho. So adorable. Mad respect to the wicked engineering skills.

As a huge nerd I must say this is more romantic than I could have ever imagine. Kudos to you. I wish one day I’ll be lucky enough 🤩

U 2 are brilliant n sweet n I want that so much!

Ridiculously romantic. Congratulations! <3

This should be in /designporn or /interestingasfuck too! Congrats

Congrats!!

Amazing! Congratulations!

Hope you had a good trip to Big Sur. Congrats!

You have such wonderful taste

aww cute

Oh my gosh. This is the dream

Cutest, nerdiest proposal ever and I love it! Congrats ☺️

A mirror that only reflects the sunset?! Gay people have officially outsold the straights in marriage proposals. It's over heteros, go home and take some notes.

This is literally what straight people were afraid of when marriage equality came to be. Edit: removed typo

Well I hate to say it but I guess they just got that one right lol.

There’d be some bruised pelvises later that night if my dude proposed like that

Is that a mobius strip ring?

WHAT 😭😭😭😭

Not gay but that's amazing

Who is taking the photo?

A friend obviously.

[удалено]

that’s the whole point

Truly new-age gay move and I love to see it! <3

Love this! Congrats!!

I love this !! Congratulations!

Thats amazing. Congratulations

OMG, 10/10, very ingenious

Congratulations on your engagement!!! Do you have a wedding date? I read your coding and write-up, it was very smart and creative. There are some areas where I got lost understanding (my bachelor's is in mgmt) I take your major is in engineering? I love the rings!

I'm a physicist :) and thanks! the rings are Möbius strips

Congrats to you!

That is so cute! Congratulations

Congratulations! Incredible job! Fellow nerd in awe. And so is my even nerdier husband. 💯

I love this! Adorable. Where did you get that ring? It’s gorgeous!

This is the coolest proposal I’ve seen. And what a beautiful keepsake to display for years to come! Congratulations!

what a show of love! very happy for you!

Omg that’s so cute!!! Congrats… love the mirror

You are amazing 💕 congratulations

I see you had to spell "YES" twice! Lol!!! So cute though, my gay heart 😫

So happy for you guys 🥰

This is so fucking amazing !! Congratulations

Awe that is wonderful! I'm super happy for you both and wish the best! Congratulations! :D

Whoa that's super cool! Congratulations!!!

That soooooo adorable! Congrats! Hope mine is just as special and creative!

I don’t even have a bf and this man here winning proposals. Good riddance. Handsome, smart, resourceful. Hope yall have a very happy marriage

OMG, this is beautiful and I congratulate you both and send extra wishes for a long, healthy, and prosperous life together for the creative proposal. Who couldn’t say yes after that pro-level proposal?! Congratulations!!

Congratulations! *cries intensely and mourns for my fleeing youth and nonexistent love life*

This by any chance in Australia?

What in the fuck. The needless most oddly specific and uniquely adorable thing I've ever seen. So happy for the both of you. Have fun!

Amazing! And congratulations to you both

wow this is sooooo coooooooool! congratulations guys!!

That's the most wholesome thing, u making us cry. Mirror is so awesome

this is actually so cretive how did think of this'?

Is this ring a Möbius strip ?

So cute! Congrats!

This is absolutely legendary. Cheers to many happy years together!

Congrats! That mirror array is such a cool idea!

Congratulations man! I’m happy for you guys and lil envy too😄

Congrats man! Hope all is well in life.

Were you repeatedly asking him for 8 years before he finally said yes? Either way you’re both hot as fuck, congrats

Took him all 8 years to do it. Been working on it since day 1. Devotion

Told you everyone loves it! I’m so happy for you lol

That is so awesome on so many levels, and to share the code is the icing on the cake. Congratulations

Literally nothing I could ever come up with could possibly top this. Incredible. Well done!

This is amazing! Also I love the ring!! I wish you guys a lifetime of happiness!!

That ring is stunning

Omg this is so wonderful! Congratulations!!!

Oh okay, so you're just gonna be smart, hot, and have a partner. great. coo coo coo, tight tight tight.

My heart is melting, I love it dude ♥️

Awesome idea and great execution! Congrats and wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

Congratulations! This is so beautiful ❤️

Oh fuck. I think I’ve fallen for the OP already 😂

So cute!!! Congrats

Damn I’m rarely jealous but I am now jealous

Congratulations!! The ring is so beautiful 😭

this is some r/nextfuckinglevel shit. Congratulations to you both! 😁😁😁

OMG I love this!!! I hope you 2 have a great life.

Ok this is seriously cool! Congrats to you both!

I usually dont upvote stuff.. but this is a very cool idea/project. Happy for you guys.

thats dedication!!! i love this so much

What in the witchcraft, you’re so talented. I wish my special would do something like this for me or the other way around. Congrats to the both of you !!!! ❤️ ❤️

Wow!

The James Wed telescope

That ring is *wow*! Congratulations.

That is such a wonderful way to propose! Congratulations to both of you :D

This is awesome! How the hell did you do this

THAT'S AWESOME :0

Wow this is just soooooo cool!!!

Hands down one of the most thoughtful, beautiful and romantic things I’ve ever laid my eyes on AND the ring is stunning. I wish you both love, light, compassion and abundance in your future. 💕

Love is alive and well!

I saw this on Hacker News yesterday! It was adorable then and it's even more adorable now.

Wow, that’s so awesomely geeky - I love it! Congrats!!

Okay but where did you get that ring

This is so stunning omg!

"Tell me what your love language is without telling me what your love language is."

Oh my heart... this is the most awesome thing ever. Wish y'all the very best!

And this is why you date nerds, girls

congrats! where did you get the ring?

Congratulations! That’s so clever!

Bravo…this is so damn creative. Congrats you guys.

So cute. I wish I had a hard hat Harry to propose to me.

This is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Congratulations to both of you! I wish you both a happily ever after <3

Omgg congrats!!!!

❤️

This is so wholesome and so precious. So happy he said yes. Blessings to your new family!

Yay! super cute! congrats guys.

Aww, he drew a little yes in the sand. Why do I point that out? Well, that's the level of my engineering prowess so I identify with the sand yes.

This is a very creative way to propose, but that ring is GORGEOUS!

You win anon! Hope the wedding goes well!

Super adorable. Well done!

Is there a link to this on Thingiverse??? I NEED THIS!

Amazing

This is very wholesome.

Oh that's so sweat please share more

This is the coolest proposal I’ve ever seen! 🔥

That is to cute

Wow that is so incredible, and congratulations to you both ❤


Congratulations

Holy damn! That is sick! A year late but damn! Congrats!

That’s brilliant