Ryan Humphrey just expected to get a good meal at this year’s United Food Bank of Plant City fundraiser dinner. But what the 26-year-old got was a little more life-changing than a satisfied appetite.
The February banquet was hosted by “MasterChef” celebrity Whitney Miller for a second-consecutive year. The talented culinary artist won the first season of the popular cooking show in 2010. The now 27-year-old hosted a demonstration and helped plan the meal for the evening at the fundraiser. When Ryan’s mother, Stephanie, showed him Miller’s picture before the event, she caught his eye.
It became a running joke between Stephanie and event organizer Brian West. But, they soon hatched a plan to introduce the chiropractor to the chef. Stephanie bought her son a ticket to the dinner. He arrived late, and, after sneaking to a seat at the back table, Doug “Gibber” Gibbs talked him into getting a cookbook signed at the end of the event. He told Ryan to tell her to sign it to her future husband.
After the meal was devoured, Ryan made his way to the signing table — but not before the Florida Strawberry Festival General Manager Paul Davis asked him to escort the Florida Strawberry Festival court members to their cars.
Being the gentleman he is, Ryan walked the berry beautiful princesses to the parking lot. And he made it back just in time to get Whitney’s autograph. She hadn’t been feeling well and wanted to pack up to go. West convinced her to meet just one more fan.
At first I was like, ‘No, no,’” Whitney says. “When he walked up, I said, ‘OK, never mind.’”
The two talked until the place cleared out. Ryan was too nervous to ask for her phone number.
“I didn’t want to be that guy,” Ryan says.
But, that didn’t mean the interest wasn’t there. Ryan found her on Facebook. That’s when they started to talk.
Two weeks later, after the Mississippi native came to Florida to visit, the two realized they had much in common.
“He was handsome,” Whitney says. “He likes to hunt. That’s something I’m familiar with, because my dad does it. He’s down to earth.”
Ryan has nothing but praises for her, too.
“She’s basically all the qualities I’ve looked for,” Ryan says. “She’s a very wholesome, Christian girl. I couldn’t find any flaws.”
The cooking was a plus.
“She can cook, so she’s already halfway to my heart,” Ryan says.
Ryan decided to make her his whole heart when he started looking for rings three months later. On a vacation to New Orleans, the couple visited a vintage ring shop, so he could stealthily figure out Whitney’s ring size and what style she liked.
With the help of Whitney’s father and her brother-in-law, Ryan planned an all-American proposal for the Fourth of July. Every year, Whitney’s family explodes fireworks over their property’s pond. They made a 20-foot-long sign with lighted rope letters, spelling out “Will you marry me?”
“When people used to say ‘When you know, you know,’ I used to always laugh about that,” Ryan says. “It seemed kind of corny. But it is true — you really just know.
“Everything seemed to come together,” he says. “It fit perfectly in God’s plan.”
After four rounds of glittering sparks went off, Ryan got down on one knee in front of their family and friends to propose. He was so nervous, he forgot what he had planned to say.
“Thankfully, you had the sign,” Whitney says. “I asked, ‘You going to put it on my finger?’”
Whitney had also forgotten something — to say, “Yes.”
“I had been waiting for it,” Whitney says. “The week before, I had been asking, and he told me, ‘Later down the road.’ Then, when he did it, I was shocked.”
The couple is planning a March wedding. But Whitney isn’t doing any serious planning until her second cookbook deadline is met in October. She plans to move to the area after the wedding and is working to make contacts in the Tampa Bay and Central Florida areas to continue touring, doing demonstrations and book signings.
When she moves, there is one stipulation.
“She told me I could get her a Cracker Jack ring, but I had to get her a home with a good kitchen,” Ryan says.
“But I don’t mind a good ring, either,” Whitney says.
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.