Bridget and Evan met the way all great love stories should—over caffeine and unexpected chaos. It was undergrad at the University of South Carolina, in a cozy little coffee shop on College Street called Cool Beans. Evan walked up the stairs and spotted Bridget sitting beneath a painting of a peach that resembled a certain part of the anatomy—forever after known as the “Butthole Peach.”

They were both enamored: Bridget in her skirt and Evan in her button-down. They started talking and never really stopped. Evan declared that her spirit animal was a hairy angler fish, and Bridget countered with the story of the time she lodged a Polly Pocket shoe up her nose and had to get it medically removed. That was the moment they both knew—this is my person.

Evan made it official on September 3, 2016, asking Bridget to be her girlfriend after coming from the Columbia Pride festival. From there, life became a series of Soda City Market dates, intense games of Monopoly Deal, long Sunday walks, and a lot of Spongebob.

In 2017, Evan graduated and started her career in law enforcement, beginning the long-distance chapter of their story. Then came the phone call: “Okay, don’t get mad…”—and just like that, Scout the dog joined the family.

Bridget continued her education, earning her Master’s from Florida State and moving on to Stony Brook University for her Doctorate. During a visit to New York City, Evan proposed in Bryant Park on October 30, 2021. Not long after, Evan moved to New York to be with Bridget full-time.

In 2023, Bridget made the life-changing call to Evan: "How would you like to live in Washington, D.C.?" She had won the audition for “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. So they packed up and settled in Alexandria, Virginia, where life got a little weirder and a lot more wonderful—filled with riverside walks, magnet fishing adventures, bouldering sessions (and the occasional tumble off the wall, resulting in one very memorable broken foot), cozy camping getaways, and—after plenty of pleading—Sunny, their second dog, officially joined the family in 2024.

After nearly a decade of laughter, long-distance, and unexpected pets, they decided it was time. On their 9-year anniversary, Bridget and Evan will say “I do” in a private ceremony in Kauai, HI—just the two of them, the ocean breeze, and the overwhelming proof that true love is real... and often begins with a strong cup of coffee and a very strange first impression.