It all started when Maddie showed up at the kickball field on August 31, 2022. That’s right, we met playing adult kickball, but who’s surprised? The people who know us best know that we’re both athletic and overly competitive, so it just makes sense that way.

It is sort of surprising that it took us this long to meet because we both attended the University of South Carolina, although at different times and missed each other by a semester. We also had numerous mutual friends and even worked for Young Life at the same time. We would later figure out, and are still discovering, different rooms that we had been in together, but just never crossed paths. We’re even in the same group picture from the 2020 Young Life all-staff conference that was taken of all Columbia Young Life veterans.

But back to that day in August. I (Nick) was the team captain for the kickball team and Maddie had been invited to play by a few of our mutual friends. I was instantly intrigued by Maddie because of her athleticism, the fact that she was working for Young Life in Columbia, and let’s be real, she was really cute too. I even sat out the first inning of that season, something I never do, and haven’t done since, to try to get to know her. We continued to play the rest of that season and would hang out collectively as a team or at other Young Life events since I am a volunteer leader and she’s on staff.

That was until late in September 2022, when a Carolina football game was moved to Thursday night due to an impending hurricane. We both ended up with free tickets to the game and one of our mutual friends invited me to sit with them in the stadium. That group of people included Maddie. Little did I know that those mutual friends would be leaving at halftime. I awkwardly lingered for a little bit because I thought it would be even more weird to just up and leave as well. It was then we struck up a conversation and ended up talking the whole second half as Maddie ignored her two other friends who were sitting with us. Maddie’s depth of Carolina sports knowledge made me even more interested, but I still wasn’t sure of her interest in me. The following weekend, a group of us met up and went to the Columbia Boiled Peanut Festival where we talked even more. I was even graced by a serenade of Maddie’s yodeling skills at the Oktoberfest that also happened to be going on at the same time. In true Maddie fashion, when it was announced there was a yodeling competition happening, she joined the group of competitors. You can imagine that made me swoon if you’ve ever had the privilege to hear Maddie’s beautiful voice. Maddie wanted me to add that she did in fact win that yodeling competition.

With everything we had in common, you would guess that we would quickly move on from the “friends” stage of our relationship, however, you would be wrong. After a few more missed signals and “obvious” hints (from both sides, I’d add), we finally made it to the end of December. We both had no plans to watch the South Carolina-Notre Dame Bowl game, so we decided we’d watch it together with our friend Audrey. It was a really fun time, even with the losing outcome. At that point, I had finally mustered up the courage, and maybe with a little nudge from Audrey, to ask Maddie on a date.

We went on our first date the first week of January. I was so nervous that I had to stop in the Burger King parking lot by her house to take a few deep breaths. As soon as she jumped in the truck, I instantly felt calm. I later discovered that she was just as nervous. The plan was to grab dinner and drinks, but we ended up hanging out for hours, which included a trip to Transmission Arcade where I discovered just how competitive Maddie was. I’m not gonna lie, it made me like her even more. After our first date, we just kept hanging out and it became more and more fun. We realized how much we had in common and felt like a great match for each other.

A few of my favorite memories from dating were getting to show Maddie where I lived in Colorado, exploring Edisto Island, fly fishing on the Saluda River, and Maddie teaching me to play pickleball. Throughout our time dating, we’ve also loved attending concerts, sporting events, and most importantly time together on the river with her dog Murphy.

When I realized that Maddie was the one, I quickly decided that I would propose along the Saluda Riverwalk. I would say that it is probably our favorite place in Columbia, and felt like the perfect place to ask Maddie to be my wife. With the help of a few friends, I was able to pull off the best surprise. I pitched the idea of walking at the river and taking Murphy to go swimming since we had spent so many other dates doing that. This occasion had a little twist because I had picked up some of our favorite cinnamon rolls from our dear friend Crystal to enjoy on that morning. After we had eaten the cinnamon rolls, we reached a few rocks out on the river where I had a blanket and box of memories staged for us to look through. Maddie was shocked and we made our way out to the blanket and made our way through the box. It was after this, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes! It was truly the best day of my life and I am incredibly thankful and excited to get to marry my best friend.

M&N

Wedding

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

Ceremony

6:30 PM

6:30 PM

Reception