Jake and Andrea are high school sweethearts whose story began long before their first date. They’ve been together since March 2019, but Andrea had a crush on Jake from the time she was 12. They grew up in the same honors classes, yet Jake’s quiet nature kept their paths running parallel… until junior year of high school in Carol Toney’s AP Seminar class.

Everything changed when they were randomly placed in the same AP Seminar group with their mutual friend, Alex Woods, who already knew about Andrea’s long-standing crush. As fate would have it, their younger siblings, Joey and Ellie, were also in the same elementary school class. Over months of working together and studying side-by-side, Jake and Andrea became close friends. Jake finally noticed Andrea and developed feelings just as strong. With a nudge from Alex and their siblings—Andrea’s trusted “wingmen”—Jake finally asked her out, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

Jake and Andrea cherished their senior year of high school together, but college led them down different paths. With different career dreams, they chose long distance while pursuing their degrees. Jake reassured Andrea that she was the one he wanted to spend his life with, so they spent almost 5 years doing long distance while completing undergrad and graduate school. It was never easy for them to see each other—COVID restrictions, high academic demands, and their individual lives all made it challenging. However, during this time, Jake and Andrea learned to appreciate the beauty of long-distance relationships. Even though they saw each other every day on FaceTime, there was something special about the nervous butterflies they felt when they would finally reunite, like going on a date for the first time.

Anticipating their reunions as if they were meeting for the first time all over again became the reward for their resilience. It was exhilarating to constantly fall in love all over again. Jake and Andrea have been there for each other during some of the best and toughest moments of their lives, and they couldn’t imagine life without one another.

Now that they have both moved back to Kansas City, the 5 years of long distance was worth it. Those seventeen-year-olds are now working in their dream careers and building a life together—one they wouldn’t trade for anything. 12-year-old Andrea wouldn’t believe she is marrying Jake Browning, but here she is—and together they look forward to a lifetime of shared dreams and endless love.

They cannot wait to celebrate with you as they reach this beautiful milestone as husband and wife.