In an age of social media and dating apps, Doug and Hayley met the traditional way - by getting mildly over served at a mutual friend’s wedding in Raleigh. After the wedding was over, Doug accidentally sat in Hayley's seat on the bus heading to the after party. On the bus ride, she said one thing about dressing as spaghetti and meatballs for Halloween and he said something about playing hockey (Hayley loved hockey players) and fate did the rest.

Hayley left Raleigh with no more than a kiss and a phone number thinking “that was that,” but Doug had other plans. Over the following months the two talked over the phone and texted endlessly on topics ranging from friends, family, food, and travel adventures, often times much too late into the night.

After two months of back and forth over the phone, and multiple invites, Hayley decided to come visit Doug in Chicago. A few weeks later, Doug made his way to Charlotte. After a year of two hour plane rides to sneak in a couple of days with each other, Hayley found a job in Chicago and moved to the city permanently so the two could be together and give this thing a go.

Six years, a pandemic, a dog, and a few trips around the world together and the two are happily engaged and heading back to North Carolina where it all started to get hitched!