Having spent four years as good friends and fellow athletes, Danny Brooker, GWSB BBA ‘08 and McKenzie Parrack, ESIA BA ‘08 apparently needed to get off the GW campus to discover they had something more. Way off. It wasn’t until they were paired up on the same team during a post-graduation trip to Spain that they started to date.
As it turns out, this was just the first of many momentous trips for the two, as McKenzie is from Richardson, Texas and Danny is from Windsor, England. For them, spending time with family and friends often involves hopping on a plane.
One such trip took place in December of 2013. Using his hometown as a backdrop, Danny planned an elaborate marriage proposal for the unsuspecting McKenzie. On the morning of Christmas Eve, Danny took McKenzie for a stroll on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Out of nowhere, two dashing young men in tuxedos came sprinting toward them. At first, McKenzie thought they were waiters who had stolen champagne and roses from a wedding. But when the ‘thieves’ got closer, McKenzie recognized Danny’s two best friends from childhood.
Stunned, McKenzie accepted the champagne and roses. It took a moment, but when Danny got down on one knee, she finally got it. Fortunately, one of the ‘waiter’s’ fiancés hid behind a tree with her camera and got an iconic shot of Danny’s proposal in front of Windsor Castle.
Back in the states, both McKenzie and Danny are living in Washington, DC. McKenzie is a management consultant, which means, as McKenzie puts it, most people have no idea what she actually does. Danny has started an advertising agency called Ezpeezy Advertising. He likes to play golf, dream up billion-dollar ideas and hang out in the park with their dog, Alfie.
The couple is planning a destination wedding, which will be held in Mexico this June. Nineteen members of the wedding party are GW alumni, and all but one is part of what’s fondly known as the ‘athletic family.’ And many more GW friends will be in attendance. “Our family and friends hail from all over,” McKenzie says. “What better way to bring everyone together than a tropical destination?”
What better way, indeed.
—Mary Follin
