It all started in the winter of 2011. Carrie and TJ first met at a house party hosted by a mutual friend while in undergrad at Clemson University. Carrie had recently transferred to Clemson mid-Sophomore year from St. Joseph's University and TJ was one of the first people she met at her new school. They would see each other at football tailgates, ended up having a few classes together, and maintained a friendship for their remaining years at Clemson.

Fast forward 6 years, TJ is in South Carolina getting ready to quit his job, enroll in a post-bacc and begin applying to med schools. None of this rivaled his most ambitious decision, though, which was sliding into Carrie's Instagram DM's. Carrie was living in California at the time and TJ, knowing his audience, started sending her pictures of his roommate's golden retriever puppy. His tactic worked in getting her attention and began what would be about a year and a half of casual check-ins turned into daily conversations. In December of 2018, the two got to see each other in-person for the first time since 2012. TJ flew out to California, where Carrie was slo-mo running to him as he was coming off the plane, jumping in his arms.

At least, that was how TJ envisioned their reunion playing out. Instead, it's a story of Carrie being two hours late picking him up at the airport, then getting them lost on the way home. Am I being catfished? TJ thought to himself during hour 2 of waiting at the curb of the San Diego Airport. Luckily, the trip was a rousing success after that. Carrie remembers a friend asking, What if he comes out to see you and it goes terribly...and then he's just here for 5 days? Believe it or not, this thought had never crossed Carrie's mind. She already had a good feeling TJ was the one.

Starting out their relationship long-distance was a challenge. In 2020, they not only moved in together but were also quarantined together, as the Covid pandemic shut everything down the very month Carrie made the move to South Carolina. This was a drastic change and a different type of challenge. Not to mention Med school and working in healthcare during a pandemic. However, from these challenges, Carrie and TJ built an amazing partnership. They watched their mutual crush grow into a strong foundation of love, preparing them to do this crazy thing called life together. All culminating in their engagement on the Spring Lake boardwalk on 5/27/2022 and the wedding they will now share with all of you!


And this is just the beginning!
Cheers to another new chapter together, and thank you for joining this celebration!!