On June 8th, 2024, Benjamin and Maya met at a catholic gala hosted by St. Mary's Cathedral in Austin, Texas. Although they only met for five seconds that day, those five seconds changed their lives. They met briefly outside an elevator while being rushed out at midnight exactly at the Austin public library, as if it was an eighth dance. Maya was with a friend who complimented Ben on his suit. He responded with, "Thanks! I just got it today at Suit Supply in the Domain. My name is Ben".

As Maya walked toward her car to head to the after party, she searched through a 500+ person group me to find Ben and ask if he was going to the after party. There were Bens, Benjamins, Benjis, etc to sift through, but thankfully Benjamin had a profile picture in the group me that showcased beautiful smile and she immediately recognized him and won her over. She sent a message about the after party and replied that he had other plans.

They texted back and forth over the next few weeks and then on June 26th, 2024, Benjamin called Maya and asked Maya to go on a date while she was at Petco with her dogs, Enzo and Oliver. She was perusing the gerbils, hamsters, ferrets, fish, and mice as an enrichment activity for her dogs.

Their first date was on July 5th , where they sat at Trulucks for over five hours, talking and sharing a delicious meal. Maya was immediately taken with his sweet and humorous personality and Benjamin was blown away by Maya's kind and loving nature.

After that date, they spent every day together. Benjamin then went on a trip to Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13th, 2024. After a very harrowing experience during the shooting that occurred, Benjamin was able to answer Maya's call and assure her that he was alright after experiencing the shooting. He ended the call with, "I love you", but the call dropped right before Maya responded with, 'I love you too".

After this trip, on July 15th, 2024, Maya went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make lamb ragu spaghetti. Little did she know that Benjamin didn't own a baking sheet to cook the meat in or a knife to cut the onions with. Dinner was delicious but Ben could only eat two bites because he was so nervous to ask Maya to be his girlfriend. After the clock struck midnight, at 12:04 on July 16th, Benjamin asked Maya to be his girlfriend. Maya responded with an enthusiastic, "yes, yes, yes, yes!".

Soon after, Benjamin introduced Maya to his parents at Maggiano's. Maya smiled so hard, her cheeks were twitching. After a misunderstanding about the word "china" in reference to the country or the flatware, Mrs. Shrader discovered Maya's love for china, crystal, and silver. This led to a present of champagne flutes that Mrs. Shrader received at her wedding and Maya has been saving the flutes for her own wedding's toasts.

On August 16th, after a really fun birthday celebration for Maya's 22nd birthday, Benjamin decided that Maya was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. After meeting Maya's mom and seeing Maya's nature on display once more, Ben resolutely decided that she was the one for him.

On September 12th, Maya and Benjamin went to look at engagement rings. Maya was set on a radiant cut diamond, but one of her friends told her to go and try them on in person because she might like a different cut in person. They went to Brilliant Earth, Blue Nile and Diamonds Direct. Maya didn't want to pick out a ring herself and made no comments about the ring outside of a preference for gold and a halo cut. Ben paid close attention and noticed her expression brighten when she saw the pear shaped diamond. Maya wanted to be fully surprised about the engagement.

Benjamin had made his decision and had the ring custom designed for Maya. When the man at the store asked if was sparkly enough, Benjamin replied with, "more sparkles!" and had the gold band encrusted with diamonds. Because of the closeness of Benjamin and Maya's relationship, it was difficult to keep the engagement a secret. It nearly leaked multiple times. But, Benjamin convinced Maya that they were going to meet with wedding photographers because the church's schedule was filling up quickly before they got engaged.

Benjamin kept the act up for most of the evening after church, having Maya speak to the photographers. Benjamin gave a signal, and the photographer suggested, "Why don't you two take a picture in the front of the altar?". Benjamin had planned it to where they would become engaged in the same spot they would get married in.

He had not drafted a speech, instead deciding to speak what came to his heart in the moment. There are a million ways to say you love someone, but the only one that matters is right now, "Will you marry me?".

Maya joyously responded with "YES" and immediately knelt down and kissed him. She then grabbed him and hugged him tightly, and didn't allow him enough time to put the ring on her finger. He knelt back down, placed the ring on her finger and said, "It will be an honor to love you, take care of you, and treasure you the rest of my days".

Maya had a huge smile on her face as she hugged him again. Father David, a dear family friend, walked up and Maya immediately flashed him the ring and he responded with, "Wow! It sparkles so bright!". Ben was thrilled with his reaction. They were then asked if they wanted an engagement blessing near St. Jude, who is Maya's saint.

They walked over and Father David read the blessing, spritzed them with holy water and they laughed and smiled while taking pictures in from on St. Jude. Following that, Maya didn't realize that St. Jude had a beautiful bouquet of white roses and baby's breath next to them. The church's staff member had made them for Benjamin and Maya. They then took a multiple of pictures and lit a holy candle near St. Jude to bless their new engagement and future marriage. Maya face-timed her mom and showed off her ring over video chat.

The future Shraders attempted to take pictures for their save the dates at JC Penney, not knowing the photographer would not be there. They took it upon themselves to conscript a JC penny employee to let them into the room to take the photos for them. After an hour, they finished and made sure to purchase lots of Christmas items to express their gratitude.

They then used those Christmas pictures to craft their save the dates.

A week after the engagement, they made an expedition to El Paso to celebrate with Maya's friends and family at an engagement party.

As Benjmain and Maya right this, they highly anticipate your attendance at their wedding.

Happily Ever After!

Wedding Day

Reception