Our story began in the summer of 2016 during Furmans summer orientation. Walker and I were paired up to introduce each other to the group as a fun little ice breaker.


I was not aware of Walker’s interest in me until sophomore year, spring semester. My sorority and his fraternity paired up for a function. I was not in the mood for a party that evening so I plopped on the couch of the Sigma Nu house. Walker sat down next to me and looked at over 200 pictures of Rosie (my parents perfect dog). He was such a good sport and did not question this at all. The evening ended and we parted ways.


Over the next two weeks or so, Walker started coming to the library “to study” with hopes of accidentally running into me!!! We realized that we both loved the singer, Sam Burchfield, and he mentioned there was a concert in Greenville later that week. We planned to go as a ‘group’... Walker happened to be working that night so he ‘had to drive separately’ and we could just meet our friends there. Of course, our friends had already found seats so Walker and I ended up standing in the back of the concert and had a blast.


We kept finding ways to see each other casually in group settings- roller skating, DH dinners, etc. Our first solo hang out was on a hike to see a waterfall so I could get extra credit for my anatomy class. We went to Waffle House afterward, and this became one of our classic go-to spots. I remember his mom called him just to catch up on our drive home and Walker mentioned that he was driving home with his ‘friend Allison’. She saw right through that. She also likes to note that this was during our talking phase.


Our first official date was to Tandem (a cutie creperie near Furman). A few weeks later, we went to Walker’s formal at Tybee Island and made it official on the drive home (3/18/18!!).


We have spent the past 3 and a half years spending quality time with families, eating really good food, and loving every moment together. Walker is my favorite dance partner, dinner date, walking buddy, and biggest encourager. I cant wait to love him more and more every day!


Walker is the best man I know and I am elated beyond belief to spend the rest of my life with him!! We are so incredibly grateful for our family and friend’s support over these past few years.

Allison and I met during our Freshman Orientation in the summer of 2016, right before we were going to start school at Furman. Fortunately for me, I was gifted with a beautiful young girl in my small group and, even better, got to talk to her on the very first icebreaker our group did. I couldn’t believe it. We were tasked to talk for two minutes and then report back to the rest of the group on what we had learned. I focused on every word she told me like my life depended on it and recited it back to the group perfectly. As you might guess, this is the part of the story where I tell you that she fell in love with me and the rest is history – but no, somebody happened to have a boyfriend so I was out of luck. Of course, I didn’t know this at the time and spent all week trying to impress her, but to no avail. I would sadly have to wait a couple years before I would have another chance to win her over.

For a year and a half, I saw Allison passing around campus and would always make sure to tell her hello, however, our paths never really crossed. I began to lose hope that my summer orientation crush was meant to be with me. For years I told Stephen, “There’s something about that Allison, but I don’t think she likes me.” That all changed though, one night at the Ol’ Sigma Nu house. We were hosting a mixer with Chi Omega and who, out of all people, would I happen to sit down next to on our couch? Allison! For hours we talked and she berated me with photos of her puppy, Rosie. I showed her pictures of my dog, Owen, and we chatted all night. The next day I was in a frenzy – I had to Snapchat her, but what was a going to say? But then, after class, she beat me to the punch and asked me how my day was. I was elated. It was right then that I knew that I had a shot.

For the next few weeks, I would stumble around the library (which I did not frequent prior to this) to find Allison and sit with her. I would knock out work days ahead just so I had the time to sit with her until she was done with her work. We would go to each other’s dorms and watch the Office and listen to music. Our relationship was blossoming beautifully. This was, as my Mom likes to make fun of, our “talking phase” – not officially dating, but basically. That would have to wait, but some of my fondest memories were in this stage.

Our friends helped foster our relationship so strongly, and were responsible for some of our early group dates. Stephen took an afternoon to ride bikes with me, Allison, and another friend, the two of them chaperoning Allison and I. Sean and Noah rode with Allison and I to go rollerblading – Sean teaching Noah how to skate so Allison and I could roll around together. Then of course, was the Valentine’s Day Sam Burchfield concert that our friends went to with us. Allison and I sat in the back after arriving late. When Sam asked everyone in the building to raise their hand if they were there with their significant other, I had to slap my hand down as it was coming up.

One of our earliest dates was (appropriately) to a Waffle House (after going to a waterfall, don’t worry – it was romantic). After dinner, my Mom called while we were in the car and I told her that I had just gotten dinner with my “friend” Allison. However, she knew as well as I that this girl was not just a friend. I asked her to be my date to our formal and she told me that weekend that she wanted to be my girlfriend. Finally, on the way back from our formal, we made it official and then, I can thankfully say, the rest was history.