I saw him for the first time on the corner of Main and Court St.: Blonde hair, black jacket, and a real smile. I breathed a sigh of deep relief as I crossed the street to meet him—he was as handsome in person as his best profile picture.

I had been in Cambellsville for over half an hour already—it was such a long drive, and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t late. After piddling around town for a bit, I found myself standing on the street corner looking for a girl I only knew from a few pictures. And then, there she was - with beautiful brown hair, black clothes, and gold jewelry coming towards me from across the street. “Whew, shes actually prettier in person,” I thought. And my goodness…those blue eyes with that brown hair.

We’d exchanged a few messages over several weeks on a dating app and had one fun phone call. We were strangers risking an hour drive to meet in the middle. It could have been so awkward, but he greeted me with a kind, friend-like hug when I reached his side of the street. We talked like fast friends and goofed around in a peddlers mall with prompts like “which poster would you hang in your living room for life” and “decorate your own grave with the flowers you see in front of you.”

Once we got through the greetings and ordered our coffee, in person talking felt just like our first phone call - easy. She was engaging and thoughtful, and passed the real test when she agreed to the peddler's mall next. While we were there doing everything from planning our funeral flowers to watching her try on leather jackets, I got a glimpse of how fun she really is.

It was fun. He was smart and the furthest thing from boring—I agreed to do it again.

Already, I knew she had a special blend of serious and silly. Thank goodness she said yes to another date.

And so began a slow journey of finding and knowing my best friend. It wasn’t fast, because I'm not one for rushing and falling. Gavin didn’t ask me to do either. Weekend after weekend we met in some obscure Kentucky town, halfway between, touring dollhouse museums, art museums, flea markets, and every park we could find. We laughed and drank a lot of espresso. He invited me to know him and to be me—no pressure, no pretense, no appearances, no labels. I was absolutely terrified of Gavin Davis—but I’d never had so much fun or felt so safe.

Those first couple months were a game of “what can we do in winter in the middle of nowhere.” Despite our options being limited, we never failed to have fun and every weekend was an adventure. But it wasn’t just fun - I was starting to get to know who Donavyn Coffey really is. She was real. Goofing off in bookstores was accompanied by vulnerable talks in the car or over coffee. This was going to go one of 2 ways - a year from now it would be a nice memory for that fun winter with that girl, or…well to be honest I was still a little scared to think of the “or” at that point.

Then in early April—after three months of our weekend adventures—no one was more surprised than me when I went halfway around the world and missed him. He answered my FaceTime calls with a knowing, home-like grin. I was more smitten than anyone had known.

She has no idea how logistically challenging it was to just “happen to be available” when she could FaceTime with a 16 hour time difference. I definitely did what I could to play it cool though. You could say I was smitten too.

And so we built a little life out of really long weekends—we haven’t missed one since February 2024. We mixed in family and friends, took our first trip to the Michigan coast, went camping and thrifting. It was pure fun. And what a joy to watch all the people around me see the treasures in Gavin—his humble confidence, his excellence, his integrity, and his peace & joy.

And since then, dating Donavyn has been easy - not because of the 2-hour distance or because things have always been “perfect”, but because of who she is. She is one of the most loving, passionate, and honest people I’ve ever met, and it comes out in everything she does. From new trucks and jobs, to losing people we love, she’s faithfully followed the Lord and still been that passionate, fun, silly, serious woman I’ve come to love so much. There was nothing left for me to do but lock that girl down.

Now you’re here, on our WEDDING WEBSITE! Because Gavin redid our first date, except this time with the most beautiful ring! Our people threw the most beautiful engagement party, and now we are running full speed ahead to the rest of our days together. God is so near and so kind—He has redeemed every day of waiting, the lost causes, and very real pain. We are living beauty from ashes. And we are so excited for you to be here to celebrate all He has done.

Registry