Chandler and Gabbi’s love story began with a matchmaker and an Instagram direct message. Chandler and Gabbi were introduced to each other through Chandler’s younger sister Ashley. Chandler was living in Carlsbad, CA and Gabbi was finishing up at TCU, and Ashley had told him about “this really really cute friend” of hers that she wanted him to meet. Gabbi was the first to build up enough courage to message Chandler, and that’s where their love story began.

Chandler moved to Fort Worth in January 2022 for a brief time between jobs, and shortly after, Ashley set them up for a (somewhat) blind date… it was a blind date for one of us. As far as Gabbi knew, she was going to meet up for a drink at HG Supply Co with Ashley and Megan, but to Gabbi’s surprise, Chandler made an appearance. It took a lot of motivation from Ashley since he thought Gabbi was way out of his league and never stood a chance. After hitting it off that night, they went on more and more dates before realizing there was something incredibly special between the two.

On April 5, 2022, Chandler knew this was the one. Both Chandler and Gabbi knew that he would have to move to the Pittsburgh area for work in the very near future, but he could not let this one get away. Unbeknownst to Gabbi, Chandler began devising a plan to make the relationship official. With the help of his sisters and mom, this was the plan: while Ashley and Gabbi were in class together that night, Chandler would sneak into her house through the back door that Ashley had unlocked and set up a goodie basket with a hand drawn picture (since they hadn’t gotten any pictures together yet), rose petals, a bouquet of roses, and a sign that said “let’s make this official. And our story begins… 4/5/22.” When the girls would get back from class, Gabbi would walk in through the front door to be greeted by a path of rose petals. And the plan went exactly as it was drawn up!

During the summer of 2023, Chandler decided he was going to ask Gabbi to be his wife. First step, create the perfect ring! Only issue was that Gabbi didn’t give him ANY direction on what she wanted… so it was a shot in the dark. He began working with @LivMitchellJewelry to create a gold band, 3-stone ring. After a few meetings with Liv, Chandler realized he may have been getting a little ahead of himself, and he asked TJ (Gabbi's dad) to meet up for lunch to ask for his blessing. On August 11, TJ showed up in typical TJ fashion… late! Not just 5 minutes late, not 10 minutes, not 30 minutes, but 45 minutes late. Meanwhile, Chandler was there in the parking lot waiting to see him drive up and was sweating bullets. Chandler received his blessing, and was able to continue the ring process. Phew!

Chandler moved back to Fort Worth in October of 2023, and he knew he was ready to pop the question. For the next two months, Chandler would go home at night and stay up into the wee hours planning out the surprise proposal for the night of December 21st. After creating a PowerPoint with satellite images, drawings, and instructions, the Gentry and Arrington families were filled in on the surprise. His plan was to take Gabbi out for a date night, but they were first going to grab drinks at HG Supply Co where they first met, and to her surprise, all of our families would be there hiding and come out to celebrate! Although the weather didn’t cooperate, here’s how it went:

We could not be more excited for the lifetime ahead of us, and we are thrilled that you will all be there on December 14, 2024 to witness our love and celebrate with us. Whether you’re traveling from near or far, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. We cannot wait to see all of y’all!