In December 2023, Spencer was at his favorite hangout, Red River, a country dancing bar he frequented 3 times a week. That night, a friend from church introduced him to Madi, a girl who had never two-stepped before. Spencer agreed to teach her. He was impressed by her rhythm and she revealed she grew up dancing. Spencer immediately wondered if she was available. Unfortunately, she wasn’t.

Despite this, their paths kept crossing as Spencer and Madi both attended the Watermark Institute. Spencer eventually invited her to study with him. The session was a flop, as they spent more time chatting than studying. Madi, who was planning to move to Houston, took a liking to Spencer and decided to try and set him up with her best friend, Hailey.

Spencer, however, found himself falling for Madi. Still, with her moving to Houston, it seemed pointless to ask her out. One Sunday, Madi and Spencer planned a big group outing, but when no one else was able to go, Spencer asked if she would be open to making it a date. To his (and her) surprise, she said yes.

On their date, Madi made it clear she was still moving to Houston, and long distance was a dealbreaker. Spencer agreed. Madi was out of town for a month, and when she was back in Dallas he asked her on a second date. He said “it’s just a date, I’m not asking you to marry me…” Madi figured one more date couldn’t hurt, so she said yes. Spencer was quietly falling for her, and kept asking her on dates, with no strings attached.

A few dates later, Spencer decided to bring clarity to their relationship. He told Madi, “Don’t worry, we’re not dating, just going on dates. I don’t want to go long distance.” Madi agreed that they weren’t dating. She just enjoyed spending time with Spencer, surely she didn’t “like” him… Right?

Their fifth date was stargazing. While looking up at the stars Madi realized “Oof, I think I have a crush on Spencer.”

With Madi still moving to Houston, they avoided the conversation about long distance. But finally, Spencer told her that if she moved and they never spoke again, he would regret letting her go. He wanted to give long distance a shot. He asked her to be his girlfriend, and, to both of their surprise, she said yes.

Three days later, Madi moved to Houston. Despite the distance, they saw each other almost every week. By September, Madi asked Spencer “How long does it take to know you want to marry someone?” Spencer said something coy in response; because she didn’t know it, but he was ring shopping.

In November, Spencer ordered the ring (he totally guessed her size), and Madi had no idea.

In December, they took a vacation to New York for Christmas, where they went ring shopping at Tiffany’s. Spencer was relieved that he has guessed her size right.

Finally, on February 15th, in Spencer’s hometown of San Diego, Spencer proposed: “Not too long ago, I asked you out, and I said it was just a date. I didn’t expect a second. It was just a date, but it’s not just a date anymore. I want all the dates I can get, forever. Will you marry me?”

To no one’s surprise, she said yes.

Registry