Marriage proposal hidden in letters over 3 years

— -- Many people put an incredible amount of time and thought into asking their special someone to marry them. Very few people, however, spend years crafting a hidden message to pop the question. But that's what one friend-turned-boyfriend did.

Timothy and Candice, who asked that their last name not be published, always enjoyed exchanging letters.

"Candice really likes handwritten letters," said Timothy, 27. "I think that handwritten letters are much more personal and thoughtful because you have to take the time to craft what you want to write and can't undo anything once it's on the page."

Just a week after they began dating in 2013, after they had been friends for years, Timothy decided to use their letters as an opportunity to propose.

He spent the next several years carefully creating a hidden message in the letters. When all 14 notes he sent her over the years are put together, their first letters combine to spell "Will you marry me."

Timothy revealed his project years later, when the moment was right. As they were looking back at letters from the past few years, he carefully laid them out and told her to focus on the first letters.

"I instantly burst into tears of joy, as my mind could not comprehend how someone could love me so much," Candice, 25, told ABC News, adding that she didn't think she would have figured it out herself. "Someone that can be so genuine, thoughtful and romantic."

The two have been happily married since October 2016. Timothy said he always liked Candice, even before they began dating, and that his special idea came from a dream.

"We were friends for three and a half years before we started dating, and I liked her that entire time, so the idea grew from getting to know Candice," he said. "The moment where it came together, though, was in a dream that I believe God gave me, because what guy could come up with this on his own?"