Although they didn’t officially start dating until 2018, Mariah and Mathew’s story starts two years earlier. Matthew doesn’t remember this part, but in the fall of 2016, Mariah and Matthew were in the same Visual Media class. At the beginning of each class the professor would have different people share news headlines. Matthew’s headlines were always about baseball, of course.

Mariah remembers him standing up to share with a baseball cap on and his hair down to his shoulders. She thought he was super cute, but really needed a haircut. As it turns out, his dad agreed.

Over the next few years they would unknowingly have many different classes together and ride the exact same bus to and from campus, but never directly crossing paths.

Mariah and Matthew each had a few failed attempts using dating apps, and Mariah had pretty much come to terms with the fact that she would be single until she was 30, but one right swipe changed it all.

Matthew and his now groomsmen went on their yearly end-of-the-school-year camping trip, where they had no cell phone service. Before he left, he swiped right on a girl he remembered seeing on his bus and in his communication law class.

Mariah saw the cute guy from class that she remembered thinking seemed nice a few years ago. Right swipe and it was a match! Mariah never messaged people first, but it was the end of the school year and she had to make a move. She complimented his taste in music and eagerly awaited a reply.

It turned out that it was too cold for camping and early in the morning, the guys called it off and headed to Waffle House. When he got his cell phone service back he had a new notification.

Rejected, or so he thought. After chatting for a few days, Matthew decided he liked Mariah and asked her to dinner. She politely declined and said she had to study for her upcoming final exams the next week. She suggested that they study together for their mutual class, but never thought he would take her up on it.

Just a few days later they had study date set at Squires Student Center. They both were late, hoping not to be the first one to arrive, but Matthew ended up arriving first. They opened up their laptops, discussed their class, and started to get to know each other.

Mariah actually did study, but Matthew was Facebook messaging his friends updates, including, “she likes baseball!” By the end they were both smitten and set up another time to hang out before the first date ended.

Matthew and Mariah dated for two and a half years before he proposed. Now here we are.

Matthew and Mariah started dating over that summer, and continued dating throughout the rest of college. They did the long distance thing when Matthew moved to Washington, D.C., but still managed to see each other at least every other weekend.

They moved in together in August of 2020 and have been loving life in Richmond ever since.

Matthew decided (after a few hints) in November that it was time to propose. He seamlessly pulled all the strings - ordering the ring, obtaining the blessing from Mariah's parents, and hiding the plan - until Christmas Eve.

While taking a self-timer photo shoot in front of our Christmas tree, Matthew got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, popped the question, and here we are.