For those of you who still think we met through soccer…this is going to be awkward…

Like all good love stories, ours has a truly romantic start – with a swipe. On a cold, January night in 2022, we matched on a dating app called Bumble where, for those of you who don’t know, the girl must make the first move by messaging the guy first. In the interest of not wasting either of our time, Madi opened with a pivotal question that she knew could tell you a lot about a person straight out the gate: “Is your family the kind of family that runs 5ks on holidays, or are you normal?” Davis’s response of “Well, we are definitely not running 5ks on holidays, but I’m also not going to go around lying to people and telling them that my family is normal” was something Madi knew she could work with.

After texting back and forth for a little over a week, we decided to meet for drinks. Davis suggested a local bar and told Madi that he’d be the “cute guy sitting at the bar” when she got there. What was supposed to be an hour or two long first date turned into four as we played pool, talked and got to know each other. As Davis walked Madi to her car, in true gentleman fashion, he decided that 13 inches was just too far to lean to risk getting rejected for a first kiss and settled for a hug and a promise of a second date instead. Though we may not have known it at the time, after just a few hours in a little dive bar in Raleigh, both our lives had been changed forever.

Since that night, we’ve been caring for and growing together more every day. Madi has taught Davis about some of the simple luxuries in life, like the wonders of seasoning your food with something other than salt, and the magical healing powers that an antihistamine could have on a runny nose. While Davis taught Madi how a 0-0 score line after two hours of soccer doesn’t mean the game wasn’t absolutely electric or that it is, in fact, okay to ask for help every once in a while.

We’ve been there for each other to celebrate some of the happiest moments in our lives and we’ve been there to hold each other’s hands through some of the toughest. We’ve explored the world together and we’ve even survived - we mean loved!! meeting each other’s friends and family. No, in all seriousness we couldn’t have asked for more love and support than that we have received over the course of our relationship, and we want to thank each of you reading this for being an important part of our time together.

Now back to the story!

After nearly 3 years, Davis finally decided it was time to pop *THE* question. He spent months planning everything out, making a schedule, supplying Madi’s friends with alibis as to why they couldn’t hang out that day. He wanted everything to be perfect. We would meet at that same dive bar where it all started - except this time, Davis wasn’t going to be too scared to make the move (note: he was terrified). Yup, everything was perfect, not a detail out of place. Well, maybe just one…you see the only thing Davis hadn’t planned for was a way to tell Madi that she needed to be at the bar by a specific time (or even at all really). Luckily, his reinforcements came through and with the help and patience of their friends and family the night went off without a hitch. It was the perfect proposal.

It's been an incredible three years - all of which has brought us to this moment. We can’t wait to celebrate our love with you all this fall! As we exchange vows, we’re far from the end of our story. Thank you all for being a part of what got us here, and for being a part of kickstarting our future together. NOW LET’S PARTYYYY!