Steph had longed to be a nun since she was a young girl. When she arrived at the convent, however, she often found herself in trouble and doing the wrong things, such as climbing trees and singing in the abbey. Given her difficulties adjusting to nun life, the Reverend Mother sent Steph to the house of a retired naval captain, named Captain David Von Belk, to care for his seven rowdy children.

The children had run off countless governesses before Steph arrived. She soon learned that all the children needed was a little love to change their attitudes. Steph taught the children to sing while wearing clothes made out of curtains, and through her, music was brought back into the hearts and home of the family. To both their surprises, Steph and Captain Von Belk fell helplessly in love.

Just kidding. That is The Sound of Music.

Steph and David met on OK Cupid. He messaged her, she replied several months later (after having de-activated and re-activated her profile; very bad timing), and they went on their first date to Barrel Proof a few days after that.

David wore Teva hiking sandals to a nice restaurant. After the date, Steph met up with her friends Levi and Jimmy, who assured her it wasn't a dealbreaker.

David became known as "Tevas" to the majority of Steph's friends, a nickname that still haunts him to this day.

The proposal planning began after their third date, when David began brainstorming how he would convince this amazing woman to tolerate him for the rest of their lives. After countless drafts and rewrites of his plan over the next year and a half, David had the perfect proposal planned for the end of 2017. Alas, the Blue Angels were already scheduled to fly in Tampa that weekend and the fire dancers were demanding an absurd per diem.

Plan B went into effect. On December 15, 2017, David and Steph went to one of Steph’s favorite sushi restaurants followed by a night of dancing at Rock ‘n Bowl. David knew Steph first fell in love with him after seeing him dance at Rock ‘n Bowl on one of their earliest dates, and he was sure this date and his killer moves were all he needed to bag this babe for life.

After some shimmying in their finest Christmas sweaters, David invited Steph to the photo booth – her favorite part of any night. Once in the booth (and after Steph got over her self-described “sushi burps”), David slipped the ring from his pocket and popped the question during the first photo. To David’s relief, Steph said, “yes!” Unfortunately, the photos capturing the proposal weren’t saved, as the newly-engaged couple was too busy making out to hit the “print” button. No matter, David and Steph spent the rest of the night dancing, celebrating, and enjoying the free drinks bestowed upon them by everyone who saw Steph’s beautiful new ring (which David picked out all by himself and definitely without any input from Steph or her friend Jill).

In the months since the proposal, David and Steph have continued to celebrate (and use their engagement for free food and drinks). They are so excited to share the celebration with all of you at their wedding and can’t wait to see you out on the dance floor!