Local westside resident worked with Pacific Park to create a wedding proposal on the face of the Pacific Wheel.

On Wednesday, June 15th, visitors to the Santa Monica Beach looked up to see 40ft-high letters scrolling across the face of the Pacific Wheel: it asked “Marry me, Katia?” The eye-catching message even caught the attention of KCAL 9 News weather reporter Olga Ospina who exclaimed, “how cute is that?!”

The message was arranged by Eli Weisman who wanted to illustrate his love for his fiancé-to-be in an over-the-top and unexpected way. The couple dined down the beach at Casa del Mar, then as the sun set, Eli’s big question shined from the Ferris wheels’ 174,000 LEDs. The message could be read from all over the beach and even on CBS’s live weather cam facing the Pier.

Pacific Park replaced the Pacific Wheel’s LED lighting system in 2016 at a cost of nearly one million dollars. The custom-designed system is capable of displaying images and animations in over a million differ color combinations at a full 24 frames per second. This has allowed the Park to create some memorable moments on the Ferris wheel including giving a nod to medical workers during the COVID-19 medical crisis, and cheering on the LA Galaxy.

Pacific Park receives many requests to light the Ferris wheel for many causes, campaigns, and occasions, and due to the high-volume of these requests and unique requirements for doing so, the Park cannot honor all requests. Read more about special wheel lightings of the Pacific Wheel.