In the summer of 2021 Kelsey and Blake were invited to a wedding in Jacksonville, Florida for their friends Sarah and Juju’s Wedding. Blake met Juju while he served in the Marine Corps and they became very close friends. Juju was marrying Kelsey’s friend Sarah, who she met during college. Blake was a groomsman for Juju and Kelsey met Blake the Thursday night she arrived to Jacksonville because she went over to Juju and Sarah’s apartment to have a few drinks and catch up.

When Kelsey walked in, she saw Blake. They talked throughout the night and of course, Kelsey talked his ear off for the entire night. When she went to her hotel that night she was smiling and thinking about how much she had just connected with a complete stranger in just a few hours. The following day there was a brunch for everyone who came into town for the wedding. Blake and Kelsey hung out for the majority of the day and were joking with each other the entire time. Saturday came along and Sarah and Juju had a beautiful wedding ceremony and an extremely fun reception. Blake and Kelsey danced the night away, even though Blake is not a dancer. Not caring at all, she pulled him to the dance floor and he had a blast, whether he will admit that or not.

The weekend came to an end and Kelsey suggested that he come to Georgia to be a plus one in a wedding she was going to the following month, kind of as a joke and kind of not… And he accepted the invitation! Blake flew out to Georgia for a week and they had an incredible time getting to really know one another. He even met Kelsey’s parents that week. Blake invited Kelsey to California to meet his family and that is when the couple decided to date long distance with the goal of Blake moving to Georgia. (We know what you are thinking reading this…we thought it was crazy too)!

After about a year of doing long distance and flying to see each other when they could, Blake made his cross country move to Alpharetta, Georgia. The two had an amazing year living in the same state, (finally)!! After a year of Blake living in Georgia he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kelsey and asked her parents for her hand in marriage.

On August 4th, 2023 (Kelsey’s 30th birthday) Blake asked Kelsey to spend the rest of her life with him! Blake had wanted to propose when he got back from his week long work trip to Florida. This trip was originally in September and he was going to propose the second he got home from the airport after a week of not seeing each other. But his work decided to bump up the trip to the week of Kelsey’s 30th birthday, which- if you know Kelsey at all, she did not react well to this news. Blake’s trip ended on her actual birthday and he flew home that night and when Kelsey walked into their condo, Blake got down on one knee and proposed.

Blake and Kelsey are so excited to get married November 9, 2024 and spend the night celebrating their love with each and every one of their loved ones!