It was October 27th, 2018, the Florida Georgia Football Game that always takes place at the Jaguars Stadium in Jacksonville, FL. This is considered the largest cocktail party in the world, so of course all students have big plans that surround this game.


Ironically, Madi and Hayden had never met before this game. Hayden wasn’t even supposed to be there at all. But thankfully, he was able to make it work… everything happens for a reason, I guess!


Although Madi and Hayden both played lacrosse for the University of Florida, their teams never crossed paths until October 2018. The newly joined freshman on Madi’s team had hometown friends from Maryland on Hayden’s team which is where the connection begin.


Madi’s team was looking for people to help pitch in for a 50 person bus that has taken her lacrosse team too and from the FLAGA game for the past three years, it was tradition at this point!


This year in particular, numbers were low so Madi’s team had to ask outside of their team bubble if anyone wanted to join. The freshman pulled through, asking their friends on the guys team if they wanted to join. Most of them were available and they also brought along the older boys, Hayden being one of them!


Besides the group that was already friends from Maryland, no one went out of their way to connect. Hayden and his group stayed towards the front of the bus, while Madi and the rest of the seniors were in the back.


The meeting of the two didn’t really happen until the group was dropped off at the tailgate. Hayden was the first off the bus and went straight to the tailgate, while Madi, and a few others, stayed back to use the bathroom before walking into the craziness.


Also waiting for the bathroom was a guy named Hunter, one of Hayden’s friends on his team who also came along on the bus. Huge shout out to Hunter!!!! First off, his name is Madi’s middle name (if you didn’t know), so that’s how the conversation started between the two. But secondly, Hunter introduced Madi to Hayden at the tailgate later that day.


Funny enough, after the introduction, Madi and Hayden hit it off, but nothing came from it. Madi had just gotten out of a long term relationship earlier that year, while Hayden was still in a relationship. They hung out most of the day as both teams needed to stick together for when bus pick up came around - and a few were still cutting it close to that pick up time!!! **Cough cough Hayden** but that’s a story for another time!!! - Besides a few jokes/bantering here and there, it was just another friendship that was formed.


Fast forward to the next morning when Hayden and his team had community service, Hunter asked Hayden how he thought the girls on the Women’s team were, and Hayden said: “a lot nicer than I expected, they were pretty cool.” but that was that. No one between the two teams reached out to hang out after that, it was merely just two teams who needed a ride to the FLAGA game.


But if you could guess, the story doesn’t stop there. Of course the next few weekends somehow Hayden and Madi always ended up at the same bar. They’ve been at the same university for the past three years and have never run into each other. But ever since the FLAGA game they’ve been running into each other multiple times a weekend? Make that make sense!


At one of the run ins, Madi finally walked up to Hayden asking him why he would never go out of his way to say hi… that’s when Hayden drops the news that he was in a long term relationship, OUCH. Once Madi heard, she walked away and let it be.


The following weeks after that conversation, the two were still running into each other, but this time Hayden went out of his way to talk to Madi. Knowing what she knows now, Madi tried to ignore him every time, until finally, she stopped to listen. That’s when Hayden told her that he and his girlfriend had broken up.


Honestly, the rest is history! They slowly started to hangout at the bar, inviting each other to pregames and after parties, started going out to lunch and dinner, and even texted quite a bit over winter break, counting down the days til the new semester and when theyd be back in Gainesville together!

Come February 15, 2019, Hayden and Madi started dating, not knowing where it would take them...


Hayden knew Madi was graduating in three months and was planning to move back to Maryland, while Madi knew Hayden had just gotten out of a long term relationship and had his senior year to look forward too. But they gave it a shot, anyways!


All went well from February to May. Madi and Hayden started to hang out more regularly. Their friends became friends. They were attending each others lacrosse games and even meeting family members... big step!! Honestly, it was a total honeymoon phase during those few months.


But then May rolled around and Madi graduated. Thankfully, she stayed back in FL for a few weeks after her season was over to gain a bit more time with Hayden and her teammates before leaving Gainesville, for good.

At the end of May, Madi and the third wheel (I’ll let you guess who that was) were saying their goodbyes and heading north. The only happy part about this goodbye is that Hayden and Madi decided to stick together and try long distance.


We wont go into too much detail during the time between May 2019 and May 2020... I think you can guess exactly how it went. Little to no visits, thousands of texts and FaceTimes, and wayyyy too much FOMO.


Long distance was tough for the both of them, as most people could assume, but it was so worth it!

When Hayden graduated in 2020 they still had no idea where this life would take them. Madi picked up a small job near her parents house in Maryland, right after she graduated, to save money for a year, but was planning on moving to where Hayden secured a job after college. Sadly, 2020 was the year of the pandemic and more companies were laying off than hiring.


After Hayden applied to many jobs in both Tampa and Nashville with little to no luck. Hayden then visited Madi in Maryland. Madi was working remote at the time and while she did her thing, Hayden was searching for jobs in Maryland for shits and giggles. He ended up finding a random job opening, and was so ready to secure a job that he applied for the heck of it! Within 24 hours, Hayden was walking out the door for an interview with the company.


Right after the interview, the job literally told him on the spot that he had secured the job and asked if he could start ASAP. Hayden was so done with the unknown that he accepted the job! With no place to live and a start date of a week later, Madi’s parents offered Hayden a place to stay while he moved up north and got situated into this new life.

Fast forward to 2025, Hayden now calls Maryland his home (with a way better job!!!). Madi and Hayden moved out together, and bought a house in Annapolis. Brought home a wonderful, amazing, PSYCHO dog, Mr. Eddy Mans, and are now engaged to spend the rest of their lives together!


July 20, 2024 is certainly a date that will be hard to beat!!! Not only because the two got engaged, but because there was a record for how many tequila shots were taken in a two hour timeframe….


Who are we kidding, October 23, 2025 will not have an issue! There will be an entire venue filled of all the people that Madi and Hayden love who are ready to celebrate their amazing story (and to beat the record for tequila shots taken)!!! They are so excited for Nashville and can’t wait to share their special day with you!!!


Cheers to the Parks and what’s to come!