After a few real smooth messages from Luke on Hinge, Amanda couldn’t say no to a date. They met on July 8th at Ancora for brunch and started getting to know one another over breakfast sandwiches and some avocado toast that was practically impossible to eat elegantly (Amanda should have ordered something else, but Luke decided it was still worth asking her out on a second date, hoping that she could refine her table manners).

Prompted by the suggestions of biking, boating, breakfast, or anything else that starts with “B”, we started dating through the alphabet. This led to some creative date ideas, which Luke kept track of on his phone. We’ll admit some of these might be a stretch, but we had so much fun along the way!

A - Ancora

Our first date on July 8th! It just so happened to be at a restaurant that started with "A."

B - Biking and Breakfast

We rode our bikes through the Arboretum and finished with breakfast at Gates and Brovi.

C - Concerts on the Square

During the summer, Madison Symphony Orchestra puts on free concerts on the Capitol lawn. Amanda was in charge of the picnic and decided to fully embrace the "C" theme with charcuterie, couscous salad with cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, and chicken caprese sandwiches on ciabatta!

D - Distillery Tour

We drove out to Baraboo for a tour of the Driftless Glen Distillery.

E - Ethiopian food

We went out to dinner at Buraka to get some delicious Ethiopian food in the Willy Street neighborhood.

F - Floating with Friends

We started off with brunch at Luke's apartment, where he tried to match Amanda's themed cooking with frittatas and fruit. The fruit was delicious, however, the five spice frittata may have fallen... a bit flat. We went down to float the Sugar River with Meghan and Tyler Evans. This was the first time Luke met Amanda's friends, now both members of the bridal party.

G - Games

This was the first stretch when it comes to the alphabet dates. We played pickup volleyball games at Olbrich park and stopped for dinner afterwards. Luckily there was some goulash on the menu to add to the "G" theme.

H - Hammocking

We put up our hammocks at Vilas Park and just hung around. Luke also packed some honeycrisp apples for a snack.

I - Italian Dinner and Ivory Room

We went out for a nice Italian dinner at Naples 15 and afterwards we walked over to the Ivory Room piano bar. Walking back across the capitol lawn, Luke asked Amanda to be his girlfriend.

J - Jet-skiing

Our friend group organized a boat day, complete with a jet ski that Blake and Emma Graber had been storing in Amanda's driveway that summer. We enjoyed going out on Lake Mendota and jumping in!

K - Korean food

We cooked together for the first time in Luke's kitchen, where he showed Amanda how to prepare his favorite dishes from his time spent in Korea.

L - Leopold's

We started out with a plan to go line dancing, but that quickly changed when we realized State Street was overtaken by college kids on bar crawl.

M - Market

Specifically the Dane County Farmer's Market. Amanda changed plans the night before and asked Luke to come help pack backpacks for a back to school drive Doxa was having that morning. Then we stopped by the market before spending the afternoon at Devil's Lake State Park. We wrapped up the day with some mahi-mahi for dinner and watched Mulan.

N - Night Sky

This was the date of a super blue moon, so we planned to go to UW's Observatory to get a good view. The line was so long to get in that we gave up and left after waiting for an hour. We were still able to enjoy the night sky, just not through a telescope unfortunately.

O - Olivia, Oak Street Beach, and Oyster bar

We went down to Chicago for the day, where Amanda met the first of Luke's family members, Olivia and Dane! We watched a volleyball tournament on Oak Street Beach, then headed to an oyster bar for dinner. While in Chicago, we also met up with Amanda's friends, Caroline and Lewis.

P - Pickleball, Potluck and Packers

After playing some pickleball, we attended a watch party for the Bears vs. Packers game. We all brought over some food (potluck) and went out to play flag football at half time.

Q - Questions?

Amanda met Luke's parents for lunch at Café Hollander, and we knew they might have a few questions to ask while getting to know her! We made sure to order some quiche to fit the theme.

R - Ramen, Reports, and REI

We were preparing for our first backpacking trip together and decided to make a date out of it! We met for some ramen, then headed back to Luke's apartment to present our "reports". We both planned out an aspect of the trip and presented slide shows to each other. We finished the evening stopping by REI to stock up on supplies.

S - Salsa and Swing dancing

Michelle gave Luke some tomatillos from her garden, and we were able to make some delicious salsa verde with it. Amanda gave Luke swing dancing lessons with the help of a few YouTube videos.

T - Trekking Trip

We went on a two day local backpacking trip, mostly for Luke to test that Amanda can handle a camping trip. It was comical the amount of food we packed and unfortunately it rained all night, but we stayed dry in our hammocks with rain flies. On the way back, we stopped at Taphouse Twenty in Tomah for lunch.

U - U-pick Apple Orchard

We went out to an apple orchard for a lovely fall activity. It turned out to be 80 degrees, unseasonably warm for October!

V - Vino at a Vineyard

We went to Bailey's Run vineyard in New Glarus to enjoy tasting some of their wines. Luke tried a spicy jalapeño wine.

W - West Lawn Ave block party

We started the day walking down to the square and decided to pop in for the official Wisconsin State Capitol tour. We came back in time for the annual West Lawn Ave block party where Luke got to meet all of Amanda's neighbors.

X - Doxa and X marks the spot

We attended Doxa together for the first time, and the church's logo is an "x" so we counted it. That afternoon we went out to a corn maze for X marks the spot. Amanda absolutely crushed Luke in completing the maze (of course it was a competition).

Y - Yard games

Amanda hosted an Ohio State tailgate, where we played some yard games with Amanda's cousins from Ohio, Joel and Caitlin, along with our friends from Madison, Emma, Blake, and Phil. Turns out we know way too many Ohio State fans.

Z - Zoo lights

We went to the Madison Zoo to see the Christmas lights and ride the carousel. Luke brought Amanda some Zantedeschia flowers, better known as Calla Lilies, to complete the alphabet!

After a few dates, a nice Italian dinner, and a failed attempt to hit Amanda with a pickup line at the piano bar:

Luke: "Hey you're pretty cute, are you single?"

Amanda: "Yup, I actually am"

Luke asked Amanda to be his girlfriend on August 18th. Little did Amanda know that this would be the same spot they would be getting engaged 8 months later.

On April 13th, Luke and Amanda started out meeting for breakfast followed by a trip to Menards to pick out a few plants and then some landscaping work in the morning. Luke left around noon to "go play golf" and then picked Amanda up at 4:30 to go grab some drinks before dinner. Driving down to the Capitol, Amanda couldn't even hold Luke's hand because her hands were so sweaty (she may have been anticipating something..)

They made it downtown and ran into the first surprise, Amanda's friend from Auburn, Anna Kelly, who had "just stopped into Madison" from D.C. Luke handed Amanda over to Anna with a letter directing her on a scavenger hunt, saying that he would be back to pick her up shortly.

The letter directed her towards State Street, where she ran into her second surprise friend from Auburn, Sarah Pugh. Sarah also had a letter, directing Amanda to the Overture Center, where they ran into another friend, Caroline Powell. Heading to the final spot, the Piano Bar, the group met their final member, Emma Rose Frederking, and watched a video Luke made for Amanda.

The video contained a few fun facts from Luke and Amanda's relationship, like how many phone calls they shared, places they had been together, how many times they texted each other good morning, and the footage from the night Luke had asked Amanda to be his girlfriend (he requested the public security footage back in September, just in case he ever had a use for it).

At this point, Luke returned to pick up Amanda with a bouquet of flowers, and they left to walk the same route they walked on August 18th (when they became official dating). As they walked along, Luke told Amanda all the things he admired about her, some hopes he had for their future, and why he ultimately wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He walked her up to the Capitol steps, got down on one knee, and asked for her to marry him. Amanda was so excited she said yes before Luke could finish asking.

They shared a glass of champagne on a park bench and looked through the photo book that Luke made with photos from their adventures together over the past few months. It also contained a picture of Luke with Amanda's parents down in Alabama, where he had snuck off to ask for their blessing while she was out skiing in Park City.

They started walking back to the car, with Amanda expecting to go meet back up with her four friends for dinner. In her post engagement bliss, she almost walked clear past her parents who had flown in from Alabama for the surprise! They all shared some hugs, laughs, and a few happy tears before heading back to the house.

When they arrived back at the house, they walked in (after getting the door unlocked) for the final surprise of the evening. Luke's parents, Amanda's parents, and her four college friends, along with their friends from Madison, had all come together for a surprise engagement party. Everyone spent the evening eating charcuterie and celebrating that "She Said Yes!"