How They Met
Alex and Makayla first met each other at the ages of 12 and 14. They went to the same middle school and performed in The Lion King Jr. Alex started to take interest in Makayla when they were in Oklahoma! together in 2016. That fall, Makayla and Alex attended the same Halloween party thrown by their high school, where they started to flirt for the first time with Makayla dressed as salt and Alex- a chick magnet. It must have worked, because you are all here reading their wedding stories!
The First Date
On January 17th, 2017, Alex and Makayla were invited by two of their friends- Alex’s best friend and Makayla’s best friend- to be wingmen as they wanted to see if they would be a good match together. The four of them planned to go skating, but it was too cold so they stayed home and watched a movie instead. By the end of the movie, Alex and Makayla were holding hands and the two who were trying out dating ended up just playing ping-pong. Little did they know, that would be the last first date they’d ever go on. About a month later, Makayla asked Alex to the Sadie Hawkin’s dance. The rest is history!
The Next Five Years
Alex and Makayla spent the next five years in the most amazing relationship they could have asked for. Music continued to be a huge part of their lives as they performed in concerts, plays, and musicals throughout their high school careers. In 2019, Alex graduated high school and moved to Minneapolis for school. Makayla was still a senior in high school, and though long distance was very hard, they persevered. In 2020, Makayla graduated and moved to Fargo to start school there. Though it was only an hour closer to Alex than she was before, the distance became much more bearable. Many people rooted for them through all of the hard times, even saying that if Alex and Makayla were to ever break up, they’d know love wasn’t real. Over the years, the couple has since proven that love is, in fact, very real.
The Proposal
Alex and Makayla have always been UND hockey fans. In 2019, Alex’s family announced at family game night that they would be attending the UND championship hockey game in Nashville, TN the following fall. They asked Makayla to join them, and she was elated. The game got canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19, so they were very happy to find out that it would still be taking place in 2021. The weekend of the game finally came, and Alex and Makayla traveled 15 hours down to Nashville in a van. They had an amazing first day in Nashville, hearing the music that has been so important to their relationship. Alex’s sister took Makayla to get her nails done before they went to Nashville, as well as telling her to dress fancy because they would be going to a fancy restaurant on the trip. Alex knew that Makayla loved water- lakes, rivers, oceans, you name it; she loved it. He took her to a beautiful pedestrian bridge that overlooked the Cumberland River with a breathtaking view of the city’s skyline. They walked the length of the bridge and Makayla was absolutely blown away by the river’s beauty. Alex was so nervous that he almost gave it away. As they walked back the other direction, Alex told Makayla that he loved her, and his family loved her. They stood next to the edge of the bridge as Alex got down on one knee and asked if Makayla would like to be a part of his family for the rest of her life. Makayla says she can’t remember the rest of his speech; she just couldn’t wait to say yes!
