Jill and Avery had known each other for a while, thanks to the fact that Jill’s sister Hannah was dating Avery’s best friend, Carter. But their relationship truly started in November 2017 at a tailgate before the annual Carolina-Clemson football game. Abandoned by Hannah, who had to work that day, and Carter, who went AWOL minutes after the tailgate began, the pair instead kept each other company. They hit it off almost instantly, bonding over their shared experiences in journalism and their joint affinity for Avery’s undeniably rad tailgate playlist. At the end of the night, though, Avery had to make a fateful choice. He had a ticket to the biggest game of the year in his pocket, but Jill didn’t. She was leaving to watch the game at a local bar, the Rockaway Athletic Club. As the tailgate crowd packed up and began walking toward the stadium, Avery pulled a Good Will Hunting and decided he had to go see about a girl. They walked toward the bar instead, holding hands for the first time. They have been together ever since.

Anyone who has spent time with Jill knows she is a planner who maps out the itinerary for every date, every free Saturday, every group trip or vacation well in advance. So you can imagine the difficulty Avery and Jill’s family found in orchestrating a proposal that would involve her favorite people, her favorite place and, somehow, the element of surprise. It was a constant cat-and-mouse game of gently thwarting Jill’s attempts to make plans that would have scuttled Avery’s secret intention to pop the question with both of their families on hand. Jill’s parents came to town one weekend in June under the guise of visiting for Jill’s birthday, and Avery’s parents swung through Columbia that Sunday, ostensibly for the same reason. The group went on a walk through USC’s historic Horseshoe, and Avery gave a tour of the campus where he and Jill both studied. Eventually, they reached a beautiful garden tucked behind the South Caroliniana Library, a spot Jill and Avery had visited before. As Jill ran her hands through the water from the garden’s fountain, Avery snuck the ring out of her sister’s purse, knelt down and – after some mild stammering – managed to ask Jill to marry him.