Chandler's Version

Our love story started about 10 years ago. In 2015, Josh and I connected through an online dating app called “Hot or Not”. Yes, that was really the name of the app. LOL! I would soon find out he was not too far from where I grew up. I was a sophomore at Hoover High School and he was a freshman at Spain Park High School. We texted and Facetimed for a few weeks before officially meeting in person. We met and after only knowing each other for almost 2 weeks I asked him to my school Sadie Hawkins Dance. That night after the dance, he asked me to be his girlfriend and we dated for a year before breaking it off. We were young and still trying to figure life out.

Fast forward to January of 2023, I experienced a very unexpected broken engagement. I was emotionally fragile and had no intentions of dating for a while. However, on March 10, 2023, I received a text message from Josh that would change my life. Keep in mind, it had been 8 years since we last communicated so I was shocked to say the least. On March 15, 2023, we ended up meeting for dinner and talking for hours about life. It felt like we picked up right where we left off. We were able to talk about the good and bad and open up about things that weren't so easy to share. I quickly learned that Josh had a daughter, Ella Grace who at the time was 2.5 years old. He spoke very highly of Ella and how dad life was treating him. It was sweet to see this side of him and hear about his little girl. We both left that night happy and energized from our reconnection.

Over the next few months, we found ourselves at the bowling alley almost every Thursday night and had the best time. However, those bowling alley nights soon turned into dinner date nights with more serious conversations about the future. On June 5, 2023, we became official and very quickly knew we wanted to spend forever together. Josh and I were in a season of life where finding our person and getting married was something we longed for. I met his daughter about 3-4 months into us reconnecting again. She quickly grew to love me and enjoyed spending time together. Josh is the best daddy and watching him with Ella is precious. She turned 4 in December and her personality is so fun. She’s very excited about the wedding and her role of being the flower girl. I feel quite honored and blessed to soon become her bonus mom.

One of my favorite days is June 29, 2024, because it’s the day I said YES to my forever person. He planned the entire day out so perfectly. We ended the evening celebrating with close friends and family. It was such a sweet time celebrating our relationship, engagement, and new season of life.

Our wedding weekend will be exactly 2 years since our first date when we reconnected after so many years. 15-year-old Josh and 16-year-old Chandler would be so proud of how far we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished. God’s plan is far greater and I’m thankful for our unique love story. Here’s to being Mrs. Walker and growing old with my best friend!

Josh's Version

Chandler and I met in 2015 on an online dating app. We talked for a few weeks before she asked me to her high school Sadie Hawkins dance. That night I asked her to be my girlfriend. We dated for about a year before going our separate ways because we went to different schools.

After a while we stopped talking, and we both grew up and matured. I always told myself that Chandler would be the only one I would ever try dating a second time. She had taught me morals and respect for a relationship.

Eight years passed. I reached out to her one day simply to see how things were going - with low expectations of a response. Surprisingly, 2 days later, I got a reply from her and we texted back and forth for about a week. We agreed to meet for dinner one evening and it turned into hours of catching up on each other's lives. Afterwards, we went to go get ice cream which is one of her favorite things. We went to the Preserve Town Hall which we had frequented when we dated in high school.

Three months later I asked her to be my girlfriend again. We officially started dating on June 5th of 2023 and from that point forward we were inseparable. Another three months had passed when Chandler met my daughter, Ella Grace for the first time. It was at that point I knew Chandler would be an amazing mother.

Chandler and I fell deeply in love over the next year and a half. When I started planning the proposal, I knew the exact place it would happen. We refer to the Preserve Town Hall as “our place,” and the afternoon of June 29, 2023 was perfect because she said yes.

I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with my first true love.