When asked “When was your first date?”, the strange reality is that Allee and I have three different answers. I met Allee in August of 2022 through a dating app. Out of all the things to talk about, our first-ever conversation was about coffee. If you asked either of us then, we might have said that we didn’t expect much from the conversation–little did we know we were talking to our future spouses!

We texted for about a week when I found myself finishing an online assignment at Starbucks. We had already set a “first date” for that coming Saturday (this was Wednesday) but Allee simply could not wait to see me in person. As much as I playfully told her not to come (I was filthy from a workday at North Greenville), she insisted, and we finally laid eyes on each other in person. After sipping coffee and talking about our days before she left to take care of the nursery, we had first date number one. The next day, I couldn’t get this girl off of my mind. So, I asked her to dinner at Monterrey Mexican Restaurant on Friday Night. The secret to any girl’s heart? Chips and queso, my man, chips and queso. She met me after work, and I saw Nurse Allee in person with those cute blue scrubs. After our go-to Mexican favorites, we drove through her hometown of Greer and spoke of what we saw in our future–first date number two. That next day, I picked her up and we went to downtown Greenville for dinner and putt-putt. The results of said putt-putt match may or may not be accurate if heard from Allee–hence, first date number three.

I officially asked her out on my birthday (happy birthday to me!) in the most romantic of places to ask–the parking lot of Texas Roadhouse. I made my intentions very clear as I asked her “You know… if we do this thing, it’s a forever thing?” as she responded with “it already feels like forever has started”. We’ve been by each other’s sides ever since then. We’ve been through grad school, moving, new jobs, and more together.

In June, I decided that it was well beyond time to make this girl my forever. I sought out a local jeweler in Hendersonville–cementing the small mountain town as a staple in our early life together–and found THE ring. On July 17th, Allee agreed to spend her life with me. I picked up the ring from the jeweler around 9am, told Allee that I’d pick her up around 10:30 and that I had the day planned for us. She knew that we were in the season of dating in which I was gonna ask her to marry me, but this smart girl did not even suspect a thing. I took her to Bald Rock near Cleveland, SC, and was planning on asking her at the top of the slope. However, due to the rock formation slanting backwards and there being a lot of shirtless little local kids running around, I had to improvise. I took our Eno hammock and led her to a small clearing through the woods, just past the main slope. It was the perfect spot. After Allee was trying to convince me to use certain trees to hang up the Eno, I confessed that I didn’t bring out the Eno to hang it up. She immediately knew. I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. And that’s our story! It’s full of smiles, laughs, tears, fears, hopes, and dreams, with one thing for sure–life is incredible with each other. Thank you for being a part of our journey and our special day!

With love,

Holden and Allee Shaver