This love story has been in the making since way before anyone knew what was coming…

Chris and Harley first met when they were 11, thanks to mutual friends, swim practices and a string of birthday parties that they both kept showing up to. They were those kids who knew of each other, exchanged polite nods across the room, and then went right back to hanging with our own squads. Classic middle school stuff.

As the years went by, they stayed vaguely connected through social media (as one does) but went to different high schools and lived their separate lives. Fast forward to 2013—Harley’s looking at colleges and, of all places, she ends up touring the one Chris was attending. He messaged her with the helpful “been there, done that” college advice... and then? Radio silence for four more years.

As luck would have it, one night during the summer before Harley’s senior year of college she was out at a local bar with friends, and guess who she ran into? Yep—Chris. He bought her a drink, they laughed about how weird it was to be out drinking together after knowing each other as awkward teens... and then went their separate ways again. Still, nothing happened.

Fate clearly had them on a long-game timeline.

About a year later, just after Harley graduated college, they matched on a dating app (because apparently the universe was tired of waiting). This time? Everything changed. Sparks flew, laughter flowed, and they never looked back. It didn’t take more than one date for both of them to realize—they were each other’s forever.

Two months into dating, Harley moved to Orlando to work at Disney World as a photographer—cue the beginning of the long-distance era. Seven months of texting non stop and nightly FaceTimes. During the 2020 pandemic, she moved back to New York, and they were thrilled to finally be dating while living in the same state. By early 2021, Chris packed up and moved to DC for nursing school—cue another chapter of long-distance love, and way too much time at airport gates.

Long distance wasn't always easy... but when the love is real, it’s worth every challenge, every change, and every chapter.

After nursing school, they decided to moved in together and found their first home in Baltimore, adopted their fur baby Goose (their very own chaos coordinator), and eventually moved to Northern Virginia to plant new roots.

On February 5th, 2025, on their very first day of their Hawaiian vacation, Chris pulled off the most beautiful, jaw-dropping, romantic sunset proposal that Harley could’ve ever imagined. He truly outdid himself—and for once, she was completely speechless.

From swim practice and social media to long-distance and a dream proposal—Chris and Harley's story has certainly taken its time. Like every great fairytale, their story was full of twists, and a little bit of magic—but it led them right where they were always meant to be.

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