It all started on a fall day, October 1st, 2021. Hannah and Andrew were sent on a blind date to Applebee’s by a mutual friend (Hannah’s best-friend and Andrew’s co-worker), Larissa. Neither of them went into the date with big expectations or looking for anything too serious, but after 3 hours at Applebee’s and another hour in Andrew’s car, they realized they shared many commonalities and wanted to spend more time together.

On October 16th, after a couple more dates, many late nights on the phone and facetime, Andrew decided he wanted to ask Hannah to be his girlfriend. Like the song, “See you Tonight”, by Scotty McCreery, Andrew traveled the 3 1/2 hours between them at 9:30pm, arriving at Hannah's college dorm at 1:00am with a bouquet of flowers in hand and a handwritten note asking Hannah to be his girlfriend.

The distance between them did not matter. They made the trek between The College of Saint Benedict and South Dakota State University nearly every weekend for the rest of the college school year. They originally made the agreement to only see eachother every other weekend to save money on gas and miles on their cars. However, they rarely ever stuck to that plan as they almost always had a reason they had to see eachother every weekend.

During the spring of 2022 Andrew moved home and transferred to a more local college, which allowed for them to spend even more time together. They even spent two consecutive summers working together as camp counselors at YMCA’s Camp Manitou, where the campers were constantly “shipping” the idea of Hannah and Andrew together. (The campers were SO excited to see the secret revealed, when Hannah arrived to camp one day with a ring on her finger from Andrew.) With spending much of their time together, they were able to explore more of their personalities, love for God, and each other's friends and families. They both share the love of camping, traveling, hiking, cooking, baking, playing board games, and Andrew’s personal favorite, eating ice cream!

On Saturday, August 19th, 2023, while attending Hannah’s annual “High-school Friends Cabin Weekend,” Andrew proposed to Hannah. Andrew had spent a lot of time planning his proposal, from customizing the perfect ring, planning Hannah’s favorite dinner of steak, potatoes, and asparagus, proposing at sunset, organizing Hannah’s friend Bryce to photograph the entire moment, and arranging for there to be champagne and wine for celebration that evening. The only thing he did not have planned was how to lure Hannah to the dock at sunset. Earlier that day, Hannah’s friends had cleared the dock of all things including the porch swing, paddle boards, towels, and ALL of the sunglasses. Her friend told her the reason for clearing the dock was, “A storm would be brewing that night”. (There was in fact, a 0% chance of rain all weekend.) Hannah’s friend, Kaylee, came up with the idea to put Andrew's sunglasses at the end of the dock, so Andrew could use Hannah’s “assistance” to help find them. After convincing Hannah his sunglasses were in fact not in the cabin and possibly out on the empty dock, he finally got her to the dock at sunset. With all of Hannah’s friends watching from the cabin balcony, Andrew got down on one knee, followed by an easy and exciting “Yes!”, from Hannah! It was the most memorable and exciting day yet!

Hannah and Andrew are anxiously looking forward to the wedding day and hope you can come to share in their celebration. Their biggest wish is for everyone to have fun, celebrate in love and laughter, and of course join them on the dance floor!

Photos