Ashley and Phil both began as Freshmen at Georgia Tech in the Fall of 2011, following in the footsteps of siblings and parents who came before them. They first met at the TKE fraternity house, where Phil had recently pledged and Ashley's brother, Matthew, was already a member. It was love at first sight, though it took years for either person to realize. For the next few years of college, Phil and Ashley each carried a secret crush towards the other and continued to work towards building a friendship - through hanging out on gamedays, drinking amaretto sours at an ADPi mixer (Ashley thought they were cool, and Phil thought they were cool because Ashley did), and taking business classes together, including when Ashley almost slept through an Accounting final and Phil saved the day by calling to wake her up (she still got a better grade in the class than he did btw). For the next few years after graduation, they kept in touch, seeing each other at random events like St. Patrick's day or nights out with friends, continuing to keep their friendship kindled. Then, in the spring of 2023, they reconnected (on the dating app, Hinge, of all places) and the rest was history. Their first date was on the Beltline, getting a beer at Brewdog and a pizza at Nina & Rafi's. It was so easy to jump back into their connection and friendship, that funnily enough, both of them walked away wondering "was that a date or just 2 old friends catching up?" But after a few more dates, it became apparent that the timing was finally right and that this was the beginning of the rest of their lives, together. The next 3 years were filled with so many great memories and milestones - taking a trip to Croatia in the early weeks of officially becoming boyfriend & girlfriend, making homemade pizza while watching The Bachelorette, trying all the fun new restaurants around town, getting rained on at Shaky Knees, sipping wine together in Bordeaux, enjoying a Pimm's Cup at Wimbledon, Ashley quickly becoming a dog-mom to their chocolate lab - Jordy, moving in together and strengthening their partnership, getting engaged, and finally, buying their first home together just months before they get married! In the end, it turns out their story unfolded exactly as it was meant to - because as Gandalf said, some things are never late nor early, but arrive precisely when they mean to - and they simply found each other again at the perfect time to begin forever.