Brad and Renee met toward the end of 2016. Renee was an assistant lead at a grocery store while Brad worked at the bank inside that same location. They both kept coming up with excuses to see each other while at work, and not too long after Brad asked Renee out. They went to the Columbus Zoo for their first date where they walked under twinkling Christmas lights as they passed by all the animals. After that date they ended up spending almost every single day together and from there they fell in love.

Exactly two years after their first date, they went downtown to the Scioto River to celebrate. They walked around Columbus, enjoyed a romantic dinner at Milestone 229, and afterwards walked along the river. Before heading home, the two of them sat down on a bench to admire the Christmas lights reflecting off the water, and in that moment Brad got down on one knee and asked Renee to marry him.