Isabel & Ethan met via mutual friends on February 29, 2020 at Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The boys were driving to meet a group of girls at Railroad Park to hang out and enjoy the divine weather that day. One of the friends phone was about to die, so she gave Ethan the number of her friend, Isabel, to call when the boys got there so they could find them at the park (this becomes important later in the story).

Time passed by and Isabel and Ethan became more acquainted with each other as they realized how many mutual friends they had on BSC’s small campus. Ethan remembers times like Select Southern where they stayed up until midnight in Bruno Great Hall throwing cheese balls at each other from across the room.

Fast forward one year. Tuesday February 16, 2021 was the famous “Snow Day” on BSC’s campus. Many of their friends were out sledding on the hill outside of Bruno Hall when Isabel walked past going to her room in Pierce Hall. They exchanged hellos and the group slowly convinced her to sled down this hill. Meanwhile, Ethan held her phone and thought of the bright idea to take out Isabel’s phone and take a BUNCH of pictures of their crew having a blast in the snow. Later that day he texted her and asked her for the photos (since the hard part of acquiring her number had already been achieved). Ever since that day, he hasn’t stopped texting her. (Ethan’s words exactly).

Ethan asked Isabel on their first date outside of Striplin Fitness Center on BSC’s campus. Ethan chose a very nice restaurant in downtown Birmingham, brought along baby bites from a local bakery, and the two ate dinner, chatted the night away and eventually watched the Lion King 1 1/2 to wrap up the date. The date went so well that Isabel and Ethan both didn’t want the date to be over and genuinely enjoyed their time together that evening. Ethan set the bar really high for the rest of their date nights.

Before the engagement, Isabel graduated college, Ethan had two football seasons where the families all tailgated together, and Schmidt the cat was adopted!

Here’s the engagement process from Ethan’s perspective:
The engagement process began long before April 21, 2023 at Railroad Park. My side of this story will be much longer than hers, but I’ll try to keep it brief.

The ring:
My parents made me aware of some gold that had been handed down from generations before me. They gave me the idea to make Isabel a custom ring from the gold and diamonds that had been handed down. With this in mind, Isabel & I went to a diamond store in Birmingham and looked at rings. She narrowed it down to one ring that she fell in love with. I took pictures and sent it to a local custom jewelry store in my hometown, Jackson, TN, and they took on the tall task of making this custom engagement ring.

The plan:
I knew I wanted to propose at Railroad Park, where Isabel & I met, and I knew I wanted it to be a surprise. I needed help from the people closest to her. I had a long awaited FaceTime chat with her two best friends (& now maid and matron of honors!), Abbi and Elizabeth. I laid out my idea of crashing a girls picnic at Railroad Park on Friday April 21st. The ladies were very ecstatic and gave their expert opinions on how to make sure Isabel couldn’t pick up on any details leading up to that day. My next task was to ask her parents. We took a spring break trip with friends to a beach house in St. George Island, FL - 45 minutes from where Isabel is from. I conspired a plan to meet Isabel’s parents at a brewery that was close. I disguised this trip by encouraging a “guys only” extravaganza to the brewery. We discovered the planned day was amidst a music festival Isabel’s parents would be attending. This was the perfect disguise to throw Isabel off. The secret parent meeting went well and she had no clue!

The day:
I was in constant communication with my parents and her parents. Their assignment was to hunker down at a brewery down the road from the park. Isabel and her gals were picnicking on one side of the park, while Landon, Elijah & I snuck up the other side of the park and set everything up. Theplan was for Abbi to get a “phone call” saying that her car was getting “towed” and she would take Isabel and sprint to the other side of the park - where she would run into me. I don’t remember what all that I said, but it was a feeling like none other. Our parents come from around the corner and Isabel was truly surprised I had pulled off this detailed of a plan. Needless to say she was very excited and said yes!

Post wedding plans: After January 5, Isabel (& Schmidt) will be moving to Nashville to join Ethan!