After taking the leap of faith to move from California to Tennessee, Riley looked forward to planting some new roots. She was excited to start her new adventure and found herself busy with work yet eager to make new friends. Little did she know that one of those friends would come in the form of her co-worker, Tabbi, who just happened to be married to Zach's childhood friend, Bruce.

ENTER ZACH--Tabbi convinced Riley to come to her and Bruce's property in Leipers Fork for a little pre-Halloween bonfire with their friends, which included Zach.

From that first moment when their eyes met over the fire, Zach was hooked. Riley took a little more convincing, but she was intrigued.

THE GRAND GESTURE-- Towards the end of February, Riley was moving out of her shared townhouse into an apartment of her own and needed some help moving her things. Who better to help her than a strong, handsome country man with a trailer and pickup truck?

Now Riley had no other furniture than what was in her bedroom. Zach had an extra flat-screen TV waiting for a new home. He happily offered it to Riley, but the catch was that it had no legs and had to be hung on the wall, which she had no desire to attempt alone. Luckily, he was all too willing to use his knowledge and skills to help. They set a date and a time, and unbeknownst to them at the time, their lifelong adventure together started to begin.

They slowly began telling people about their new relationship, as they both tend to be a little secretive and mischievous. This extended onto social media, as you would never find any public reference to their union.

Over the next year, however, they created many memories while traveling from the beaches of Florida to the coast of California, where Zach experienced his first flight. They enjoyed boating on the Tennessee River and camping with friends in the country. On one such occasion, a tornado blew through while they were camping. During this event, they quickly learned that Riley tends to laugh at the most inappropriate of times, which made for an entertaining story after the fact when everyone was safe and sound.

FULL CIRCLE-- This past August, on Riley's birthday, they helped welcome the newest addition to the Deal family: their little niece, Kimberly Kate. Riley was smitten with her "little" birthday present. As such, Zach thought it was only fitting if Kimberly played an instrumental role in their engagement.

Halloween weekend came around, and it was decided that Kimberly would wear two costumes; one was her mother's pick, and the second was a onesie that read, "Will you marry Uncle Zach?”.

After getting over the complete and utter shock at seeing Kimberly's second costume, Riley needed reassurance to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. She asked, "Are you for real?" several times before getting

the message and gleefully responding with a big YES to becoming Mrs. DEAL!

GOING TO THE CHAPEL--In the whirlwind of wedding planning came the crazy idea of "eloping.” And not only eloping but doing so in three weeks before most of their friends and family knew they were engaged. This crazy idea quickly turned into a reality as Riley put all her party-planning skills to the test. She found the dress in two days, which fit her like a glove and needed no alterations. Her mother, Janine, stumbled across a little white chapel that was available on such short notice. They got their marriage license, found a minister, and went to the chapel to get married.

As mentioned, Zach and Riley tend to be a little mischievous and do non-traditional things, as that's just who they are. Still, they couldn't be happier with their decision and look forward to celebrating their marriage with loved ones soon.