Everyone's heard of the classic 'our friends set us up' stories and truth be told, it works! What started off as a little joke soon turned into a lifetime of love and memories to come. Here's a look into the backstory of it all.

Flashback to 2013 in Hondo, TX, Kade became best friends with Colby LaPorte over a shared love of MineCraft. Their friendship quickly grew and they would continue to be close friends even throughout their times at separate colleges. In 2022, Claire met Colby and his wife, Emma, at Two42, the college ministry of the church they attended. Claire and Emma bonded over the craziness of life and Emma not having a car, leading to many car rides shared. Colby and Emma always joked about setting Claire up with friends, most of which were unsuccessful until the summer of 2023.

While Claire was on a family RV trip around the US, Kade made a trip to College Station to spend the week with friends. Colby jokingly decided to FaceTime Claire, to "introduce" her to a "special someone" that had been mentioned to her before. It was then, that Claire won Kade over with her jokes and love for Bush's Chicken. After the phone call, Kade followed Claire on Instagram and sent her "meet you at Bush's on Saturday?" which was the perfect way to start a long-lasting conversation between the two.

Claire hurried back to College Station, eager to meet Kade before he left to go back home. What was only a few short hours together, soon turned into long phone calls every night and Kade making plans to come back to College Station before the start of the school year.

C&K

Ceremony and Reception