Reagan-

I had the luck of meeting Jillian Sugden in 2021 at Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest. She had traveled all the way down to Cincinnati from Vandalia because her coworkers had invited her to go with them. It just so happened that several of my friends not only work at the same company as her, but they were all in the same circle of friends that went to Oktoberfest that year, and they invited me to go with them.

With our first interaction, I knew Jillian was a special woman. The first time she and I talked, we were meeting with another group of people there that neither of us knew, and she kept trying to convince me that we were meeting with my friend Scott’s roommate named Chad. His name was not Chad, but I believed her until she started laughing at me when I went up and greeted not-Chad as Chad.

We had a few more encounters before we officially started going out, including an accidental double date turned 100%-not-double-date when I invited my previously mentioned friend Scott to come with us to a corn maze after getting dinner. I will forever be grateful for how well she took it all in stride! After we were done with the corn maze, I had her number and as soon as I got home I reached out to apologize for any confusion - while also asking her out for a real date night. She must’ve really liked me back then because she responded to a message I had sent at 11:50PM.

It’s only been two years since that night, but it feels much longer. Every day that we get to spend together is a blessing, and I count myself extraordinarily lucky to have found such an amazing partner.

We are eagerly counting down the days until our wedding, and we look forward to seeing those of you that are able to make it there.

Jillian-

I first met Reagan at Oktoberfest but the second time I met him was the time that stood out most to me. We were with a group of friends going to Kings Island and most of them happened to love roller coasters.

Anyone who knows me well likely knows that I am absolutely terrified of roller coasters. I convinced the group to let me try out a smaller ride to start with and they decided that once I did that I could handle the big ones. I was juggling trying to get to know Reagan with trying not to either cry or throw up at the thought of getting on the roller coaster and I can't imagine it was a great look for me. I purposely switched spots with another person in our group to make sure we were seated together and as I screamed until I lost my voice he tried to make jokes the whole ride to calm my nerves and even somehow convinced me to ride another one after that.

When I got the invite for a possible double date I was so excited to spend more time that even finding out that it was not mutually considered a date didn't stop me from having a great time. A good night was made even better when I texted him that night (yes, despite what he says I texted first) and he asked for an actual date.

From that first real date I think we both knew that we had something special. We have never taken for granted how blessed we are to have found each other and can't wait to spend the rest of our lives celebrating that gift.