Blue Hippo Engagement 

If you grew up in Edmond, chances are the Blue Hippo has been part of your life longer than you realize. You passed it on car rides, pointed it out to friends, and bonded with fellow Edmondites over the city’s signature sight. For newlyweds Dillon and Anna Beth Cammack, the oversized, bright-blue landmark became a hallmark of their love story. 

“I grew up in Edmond, and when I was little, we’d drive past the blue hippo on Broadway all the time,” she said. “I just always loved it. I thought it was fun to look at.” 

As a kid, Anna Beth told her mom she wanted to get engaged in front of it someday. It felt playful, a little offbeat, and very Edmond. As the years passed, the idea became more of a joke than a plan. 

“My mom would say, ‘That’s kind of weird, do you still want that?’” Anna Beth said. “And I told her, I think it’d be fun.” Then life moved on, and she never mentioned it to Dillon. Not once. 

Dillon is not from Edmond, but during their dating years, he started noticing how often Anna Beth pointed out the hippo when they drove by. Still, he had no idea it carried any deeper meaning. That changed when he went to her parents’ house to ask for their blessing. 

Years earlier, Anna Beth’s mom had found a tiny blue hippo figurine at an antique store. She bought it as a joke, assuming no one would ever actually propose in front of the real thing. When Dillon came into the picture, she handed him the figurine and told him the story casually. 

“He just kind of tucked that away,” Anna Beth said. 

On their two-year dating anniversary, Dillon told her he was taking her out to dinner at Boulevard Steakhouse. His uncharacteristic texting, general distraction, and unusual route began to pique Anna Beth’s curiosity. 

“I kept thinking, there’s no way he’s proposing,” she said. Then he pulled into the parking lot by the Blue Hippo. 

“The second we pulled in, oh my gosh,” she said. “I started freaking out.” 

Dillon played it cool, telling her they were just stopping to take photos. Meanwhile, friends were hiding nearby, filming the moment on their phones. Grainy video and all, it was perfect. 

“He thought through everything,” Anna Beth said. “Even the fact that I’d always said it would be funny to have it in the background of photos.” 

They were engaged on August 13, right by the hippo, just like she’d imagined as a girl. Three months later, they were married and revisited the hippo for photos on their wedding day, adding yet another layer to their landmark story. 

Looking back, Anna Beth still marvels at how much attention the proposal gets. “It’s not a huge story to me,” she laughs. “But people seem to think so.” 

Maybe that’s the magic of the Blue Hippo, an ordinary place that becomes unforgettable when love and memories come into play.