Vancouver barge gets cameo in couple’s proposal

It’s a love story five years in the making, and the barge on Vancouver’s Sunset Beach played a small role.

On Christmas Day, Patrick Levesque got down on one knee, and asked his partner Callum Snape to marry him in front of the accidental attraction.

The picture perfect proposal was caught on camera, since Snape is a travel photographer.

How it began

The two first met after they’d both been in Thailand at the same time, and later bonded over a conversation at a mutual friend’s event.

“We randomly met at a friend’s party, and we just got to talking. We realized that we had both been in Thailand, and just got to talking, and we just hit it off from there,” says Levesque.

The duo got to know one another, and during the pandemic, moved in together to a home in Strathcona. Soon, Levesque realized he wanted to pop the question, but there was just one problem.

“[Callum is] used to these epic places, and tops of mountains, and things like that, so the bar was set high if I wanted to go that route. But I also figured that if I went that route, he would know something was up,” he explains.

I spoke with Patrick Levesque (left) and Callum Snape (right) this morning about how the proposal unfolded. Patrick says he knew he'd have to 'step it up' if he really wanted to surprise Callum. #EnglishBayBarge #VancouverBC pic.twitter.com/DIWxNkZ6BU

— Ria Renouf ???? (@riarenouf) December 27, 2021

Because Callum is a travel photographer, anything over-the-top would have been an obvious tip-off. Levesque then thought about the barge, because neither had been there at that point. Levesque asked Snape’s dad and sister for permission, they said yes, and so the planning began.

“I always wanted to have a really fun proposal, and I was just thinking…and it all fell together,” Levesque says.

“This is just perfect”

The couple usually takes holiday photos, so they headed down to the barge on Christmas Day morning to take in the sights, and the unmoored vessel. Snape set up the camera and put it on a timer.

“He set up the camera, the timer to go off every couple of seconds, and it would just take photos. And we’re just standing there, and I’m like ‘okay I need to bend on one knee any second now.’ And so I did, got down on one knee. He was computing what was happening. And then he started tearing up and I thought, ‘this is just perfect,’” notes Levesque.

 

For Snape’s part, he was definitely surprised.

“When I started thinking back, like, ‘oh, he went and showered. He got ready super early in the morning.’ It started to make sense, a little bit,” Snape recalls with a laugh.

He also says that he now has something to look forward to after the death of his mother during Christmas five years ago. Usually, this time of year is difficult for him, and Levesque was aware of that. However, when he’d ask for the blessing from Snape’s father and sister, they were encouraging.

“I didn’t wanna do it on that day if they weren’t comfortable with it, but she was like, it would be nice to have this joyous thing happen on that day, because sometimes it’s hard on them, obviously,” Levesque says.

The pictures can be viewed through their respective Instagram accounts, and has upwards of 21,000 likes. They’ve been stunned not only how viral the photos have become, but also by how many people are offering well-wishes.

“I think it’s also been really nice, and surprising – I never even thought about this when I was proposing – but we got a lot of nice messages from a lot of younger people in the LGBTQ+ community just saying how it means a lot for them to see that. I was just thinking back to when I was maybe their age, and just thinking that…it means a lot that everyone has been so embracing, and it means a lot for them to embrace a story like this. It means a lot to them and we’re happy to be that for them,” Levesque explains.

While the two haven’t started planning their nuptials yet, there is one thing they’re certain about.

“We’ll have to incorporate the barge into our wedding, if it’s still there,” notes Levesque. “I don’t know, an afterparty or something?”

There is still no concrete timeline for the barge’s removal, though the owner has previously said they were working on it.