Matt and Mary both met in July of 2021. Matt had just recently moved from New York City to Greenville, SC to be closer to family, and Mary moved from Windsor, CT to Greenville, SC in 2020 for a job opportunity.

Matt reconnected with his college roommate, Josh, who introduced Matt to his kickball group of friends. Mary was friends with Hannah, who was a part of the kickball group and eventually invited Mary to join the team. In July, Hannah invited Mary to meet up with their friends at Pour to play pool and all hangout. Mary was introduced to Matt that night and remembers their formal handshake and his big blue eyes.

After they both were on the team, they enjoyed each other’s friendship every Thursday playing kickball and seeing each other occasionally downtown. Unbeknownst to Mary, Matt had a crush on her and did not pursue more than a friendship with her. Mary was off in her own little world trying to figure out who she was, so she paid no attention to Matt other than being comforted whenever he was at an event or at kickball nights.

Skip forward to January 2022, Matt invited Mary to his birthday party downtown. After a long week of work, Mary decided she would go out to celebrate Matt and they documented their first selfie together. A week or two later, Matt invited himself to hangout with Mary, who was planning to have a game night at their friend’s house, Hannah and John. That night, out of ear shot from Matt, John’s mother made a comment that Matt and Mary looked cute together. Mary reminded her that they were just friends and nothing was going on between them. when Hannah interjected to say, “Mary, pshhhh, he never hangs out at our house. He’s been staring at you this whole night…he’s definitely got a crush on you.” The rest of the night, Mary noticed his glances at her and how he laughed at everything she said. She knew she was hilarious so she didn’t want to read into it too much. ;)

During Super Bowl Sunday that February, Matt and Mary barely watched the game and chatted the whole night. A few nights later, he asked Mary to FINALLY go on a date.

After their first date at Otto Izakaya, they were inseparable. Their friendship they had already built just kept getting stronger and slowly turned into them falling in love.

The first summer they spent together as a couple, they introduced each other to their hometowns and got to meet their family and friends. Mary was sold as soon as Matt got the approval from each family member, which is HARD to do. It finally felt like their lives were falling into place, and they continually felt at peace in one another’s presence. They consistently reflect on their life’s experiences and felt God had been working on them individually to become the right person for each other.

After 2 years, 5 months, 24 days of dating, Matt finally asked for Mary’s hand in marriage. Mary of course said, “Yes!” and they celebrated with Mary’s family in Connecticut.

Registry