We’re Getting Married!

We met in 2013 during a choir rehearsal for Spring Sing. At the time, we were in different choirs and had never met. I (Brieann) was in the middle of a conversation when Matthew walks up and interrupts by saying, "Hi, I'm Erin Hays' brother," to which I replied, "I know." We stared at each other for a few seconds and then Matthew ran away. Apparently, he wasn't expecting me to say that. We spent the rest of the week at rehearsal getting to know each other, and by the following Monday, Matthew asked if I would be his girlfriend. We have spent every moment together ever since.

We were on a Berg (Matthew's mom's side) family vacation at Lake Houghton, MI. A bunch of his extended family were all staying in houses there. Matthew tells me that tomorrow everyone is taking a day trip to Traverse City, MI on Lake Michigan to eat and shop. He obviously piqued my interest, because I love to do both of those things. We drove there alone only to find out that the others we not coming anymore because of various reasons. We were having a normal day in the cute town, when Matthew started rushing me to hurry back to the car. I was obviously confused, starting to get suspicious, but had no idea what he had instore. We pulled up to a beachside marina where he marched up to the counter and said "reservation for Hays." He pulls me to the shore line and says "that's our boat." I started crying at that point. We got on a beautiful sailboat. People served us all you could eat food and drinks. It was beautiful, I was so blown away. The captain said in the beginning to let him know if we wanted to steer the boat. Matthew eventually convinced me to steer the boat. The owner of the boat said, "let me get a picture of you steering, you look great." She was actually recording a video and to my surprise Matthew was behind me on one knee. I turned around, listened to what he had to say, and said YES. The crew brought out Champagne--it was magical. Matthew's family were waiting back at our vacation spot with dinner, treats, and decorations-- a surprise party for when we returned from Traverse City. When we all returned from Michigan, Matthew arranged another surprise party with all of our friends and my family at Peggy and Ty's house. Beaming with happiness, excited for the future, feeling all the love--Matthew NAILED it.