It didn’t start here but this is the furthest back the photos go! We became friends Summer 2022 at the church Carnival. After hanging out in friend groups we gradually wanted to hang out more and more! This photo is from Halloween where we dressed up as Mario and Toad from the Super Mario Bros game.

After over a year of friendship, from Mario games to holiday parties, even learning to line dance at MoCountry, it eventually clicked for me that Maddi was more than just a friend… :)

I asked her out (but didn’t specifically call it a date) to go to Lake Jacomo with me for a walk. There I told her my true feelings and risked the friendship. When I told her I liked her, what did she say? Yes I like you too? No, you’re just a friend? Neither! She laughed!! A couple weeks after that, we went together with our friends Gracie and Zach to the KC Art Festival. Here she broke the silence and told me she liked me too (heck yeah)

Eventually we had an actual first date, on the rooftop park above Cosentino’s (on the exact bench this photo is taken on). I packed us a picnic of her favorite foods (the same exact picnic I later packed us for our engagement) and I read her the letters I'd been writing since I realized I liked her.

On one of the earlier dates, we went together Coopers Hawk off the plaza for wine tasting, and after walking around the block I told her I loved her. She blamed the wine, but I knew it was for real.

In our first roadtrip to Minnesota for Christmas, we went ice skating and I got to meet our junior bridesmaids! Maddi also showed off her skating skills!

They say when you meet the family it can be a little crazy, but on this trip I felt like I was still at home. This Christmas was a blast!

While she didn’t believe me in August I was dead set on marrying her. So after moving her to her new apartment, and talking it over with her parents, I took her to look at rings. Little did I know she would then look at every weekend after as a potential engagement day haha

Since I couldn’t tell her anything about the engagement, we passed the time like anyone would and went looking at Venues. Of course, with research, the first one we went to won us over and we spent the rest of the day in Parkville excited to start planning!

It was a long time coming, but we were able to get the parents to meet over a fun afternoon at Top Golf! Between bites, and swings, we had a great time!

After celebrating our friends Kate and Chase for their wedding in Florida, we were starting to wonder even more about our own wedding and anticipating engagement! I did wait a while to ask, but I had a plan…

Finally, with all the pieces coming together, I got Maddi back to Jacomo where it all started so I could ask her to marry me. What started with letters, a picture trail in the woods, a picnic by the lake, and surprising her with friends and parents from out of town, this was by far one of our favorite days ever. (We even got to go sailing to wrap a bow on the day!! ⛵️)