From ghosting to wedding bells. This is our love story - Taylor's version.

It all began around the fall of 2021 - the era of dating apps. Erin and I matched on the dating app called Bumble. The conversation was great but after about 5 messages each, Taylor never got a response from Erin. He was, as the kids call it, ghosted.

Fast-forward to January 2022 and Erin matches with Taylor on a different dating app, Hinge. The app designed to be deleted, which it was. She asked Taylor if he remembered her and he said, “yes, of course!”. But the truth was, he really didn’t as much as he said. She apologized for ghosting him and he didn’t mind and said “it’s a dating app, it happens.”

After a couple of weeks of chatting he definitely knew he wouldn’t forget her when he saw her in person for the first time ever on their first date. The date lasted nearly four hours and it was their last first date ever.

After numerous dates and getting to know each other they “made it official” in April 2022, proclaimed their love for each other later that year in June, met each other’s families the next month and have grown more in love with each other every day since.

They made it officially, official when Taylor gave Erin a birthday surprise she’ll never forget on May 6, 2023. Taylor recreated their first date with a little twist that ended with him getting down on one knee and asked Erin to marry him.

Erin said “yes, of course!” and that is how {say it to the tune of Rhianna’s “We Found Love”} they found love from a ghosted place.

The end...but really the beginning ;)

Taylor and I met first on a dating app called Bumble. I remember messaging him for about a week, and then we just stopped. To be honest, I got tired of the dating app world and all the small talk.

Several months went by, and I thought about Taylor and our abandoned chat several times. I thought about how kind and cute he was, and I wished I had never stopped talking with him. Then on a dating app called Hinge, I saw that he sent me a like. I knew that I couldn’t pass up this chance to talk to him again! I apologized for ghosting him, and then we started a new conversation.

I remember feeling so excited and yet calm about our chats. Everything we talked about was so simple, but I would laugh and feel so giddy every time another message came through. After what felt like months (but was really 2 weeks), we finally went on our first date. I couldn’t contain my excitement!

Taylor graciously drove the almost 2 hours from Christiansburg to Lynchburg to meet me. Although we just chatted and got to know each other, being with Taylor made me light up and feel like I was the only girl in the world. I feel like no one will ever understand exactly what I felt, but even when I look back at pictures, I still can’t help feeling butterflies and that lump in my throat that just tells me I was in love and I didn’t even know it yet.

Taylor became my best friend that first year. Soon, I fell in love with him too. We would drive back and forth between our towns almost every weekend. We would call each other almost every night. We talked about our past, our days, and our future.

The first time we talked about getting married was about six months into dating. We talked about engagement, and we described our whole wedding plan and our hopes of marrying each other. All of those future talks were so special to me at the time, but they’re even more special now that we’re living them out together.

I’ve been putting off writing this little story because it's not just a story to me. It’s my life and I know that no words can fully capture our love, the emotions and the commitment, the memories and the dreams, the silliness and the dearness. All I can say is that I am so in love with this man and so excited for our marriage.