The time had come to take one big step closer to making their dreams come true.

Los Angeles was a long way from Oklahoma, and even further from Delaware, but Preston and Samantha had both been accepted into Loyola Marymount University’s Writing and Producing for Television MFA program. This was the break they had been waiting for – a chance to move across the country, attend one of the best film schools in the world, and show Hollywood what they’re made of.

Far from home, Sam and Preston both arrived on campus knowing what they had come here to do, focused on their goals. But there was one plot twist they hadn’t been expecting - each other.

They sat at the same table at the new student orientation and everyone started introducing themselves, going around the room, and sharing fun facts. Always ready with a story, Sam told every one of her brand new classmates about the time she met her idol, Stana Katic, and immediately fainted in front of a crowd of fans and paparazzi.

A few people laughed. A few people looked at her funny.

Preston said to himself, “I need to ask this girl out.”

Finally working up the courage, Preston suggested they go to the Griffith Observatory after class one day. A classic L.A. landmark, he thought it was a fitting first date for two newly-minted Californian’s with stars in their eyes. They drove up into the mountains, and while walking through the observatory’s giant display of the solar system, Sam revealed her encyclopedic knowledge of Battlestar Galactica. Preston knew right then and there that she was the girl for him.

Navigating all the twists and turns of graduate school, a global pandemic, first jobs, and everything else life had to offer, they always found each other. There was only one thing left to do…

Once again, Preston and Sam drove up into the mountains. At the top of the beautiful Getty Center Museum, with all of Los Angeles shimmering far down below them, Preston got down on one knee and asked Samantha to marry him. She said “yes” on April 20th, 2024 and we can't wait for you to be there when we both say “I do” on June 7th, 2025.

Nemours Estate

Liberty Bell

National Constitution Center

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library