Dylan & Emily officially met during their very last semester of senior year, at Texas A&M University. Over Christmas break their mutual friend, Zoe Harrington, convinced Dylan to reach out & introduce himself to Emily via Instagram Messages. She helped Dylan author the message to Emily to make sure it was just right. Emily answered Dylan back & the rest is history! They hit it off immediately! Emily and Dylan texted everyday during the remainder of Christmas break. Emily loves to say she got to fall in love with Dylan’s heart, mind, & humor before ever laying eyes on him.

It turned out that Dylan and Emily had been circling one another on campus since they began their time at Texas A&M. They both attended the same session of Fish Camp (Texas A&M University’s Freshman Orientation Camp) as incoming freshmen in 2018, they lived in dorms just across the street from one another freshman year, they attended a handful of the same classes over the years, and they even served as Fish Camp Counselors for the same session as sophomores in 2019. Whoop for Session D, Red, Camp Brunner & Session D, Yellow, Camp Collins! Despite being in such close proximity to one another all those years, they never officially met during any of those chance encounters.

Dylan and Emily had their first date at Chuy’s in College Station, TX the same day Emily took her LSAT, because Dylan wanted to celebrate the accomplishment with her! They had such an amazing time that Dylan asked her out on a second date the very next day. They went to the Aggieland Safari, and spent the entire day together. They even tried to hammock in the park, but got way too cold, and ended up going back to Emily’s apartment for hot chocolate. In the subsequent weeks, they spent every spare moment together; between classes, after classes, studying together in the afternoons, weekly movie nights and more. They were inseparable!

On January 29th, 2022 Dylan officially asked Emily to “Go steady with him.” and become his girlfriend. Emily responded with “Absolutely! I’d love to! Hey, since you are my boyfriend now, you are invited to my birthday dinner with my parents in a few days, surprise!” Dylan bravely faced the meet-the-parents birthday dinner and passed with flying colors! Emily’s parents could tell there was something special between the two and they were thrilled. Things continued on as they were with dessert baking dates, trips to their special bench in the Aggieland Gardens, nights out with friends, Dylan’s birthday party, Ring Dance, and even graduation. They knew their time together at A&M was coming to an end, and eventually Dylan would have to move back to North Carolina. The thought of a long distance relationship broke their hearts, but they made it work! During their summer apart Emily applied to various law schools with Dylan promising to follow her wherever she ended up, so they could continue to let their relationship flourish. Low & behold, Emily received a full-ride Dean’s Scholarship to Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law right in Raleigh, NC about 45 minutes from Dylan’s hometown in Wake Forest, NC. After trying law school out, Emily decided it was not for her, and moved on to other endeavors. Emily & Dylan like to say that God got her to North Carolina through law school, and that’s all it was meant to be, a perfect transit opportunity to a brighter future for them both. Emily & Dylan shared even more adventures together including getting their very first “Big-time, Adulting Jobs,” enjoying weekend get-aways to the Hollander’s beach oasis, experiencing their first family Disney trip together, exploring various aquariums and zoos to carry on the tradition of their wonderful second date, attending friends’ weddings, and just happily living life together.

The week before they got engaged, Emily’s parents came to town for a visit to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Movie Experience! While Emily & her mom were at the movie theater, Emily’s dad was back at her apartment enjoying a quiet day with the dogs…or so he thought. Dylan decided to sneak over while Emily was occupied at the movie theater to ask Alfredo (Emily’s Dad) for her hand in marriage. You could say Emily’s dad was caught a bit off guard, because he answered the door in his pink gnome pajama shorts. Definitely not what he thought he’d be wearing for this life milestone, but he gave Dylan his blessing and now those pink gnome pj short have a special place in all our hearts!

A week later, on October 21st, Dylan made sure everything came full circle, and brought Emily out for a day at the North Carolina Zoo. That day they saw more animals than they had during any other trip combined! Emily, who was completely unaware that both sets of parents were eagerly watching their messages with bated breath, cheerfully went on to text them all tons & TONS of animal pictures throughout the entire day. Those were definitely not the messages they were hoping for, but they were happy to be included in the fun. On the way home from the zoo Dylan played “The Chapel of Love” by the Dixie Cups to which Emily gleefully responded, “Oh! I love this song! I always play it for my friends who are getting married.” (Which she had in fact told Dylan many times before this - hence him playing the song). She proceeded to cheerfully sing along to the music, completely oblivious to the fact that she was about to get engaged.

Less than 10 minutes later, just after they got back to Emily’s apartment, Dylan got down on one knee in her kitchen & proposed to her. Emily was SO surprised and yes, she cried a lot of very happy tears.

Dylan proposed to Emily with a pink tourmaline, family heirloom ring that is over 100 years old. It belonged to Dylan’s great-great grandmother, Zelma Matilda Behr Slack. His great-great grandparents were married for over 60 years and had 6 children. We love a good luck charm!

Dylan & Emily will be getting Married on June 22, 2024 to honor their Aggie Class of 2022!

The future Mr. & Mrs. Hollander cannot wait to celebrate their love with all of you! See y’all at the wedding!