We are in awe of the Lord's kindness to us and incredibly thankful for your love and support in this season. Marriage is a gift that reflects the loving relationship between Christ and His Church, and we are humbled by the opportunity to celebrate this gift with some of the people we love most. Whether you are able to join us in-person for the wedding celebration or not, if you're reading this message it's because we consider it an immense privilege to know and be known by you. Thank you for sharing in our joy and helping shape us into the people we are today. We give thanks to God upon every remembrance of you. - Stephen & Cassady

We met in Northwest Arkansas in 2016 through mutual friends. Stephen had just finished an internship with Samaritan's Purse in Nepal and Cassady had recently returned from a mission trip to 11 countries in 11 months called the World Race. We became close friends over the course of eight months and continued to keep in touch after Stephen moved to San Diego, CA for work.

Over the next two years, we saw each other only occasionally (on an epic Grand Canyon road trip, at the wedding of those mutual friends who first introduced us, and when Stephen would come back to visit Arkansas) but remained good friends. In January of 2019, Cassady was accepted to Westminster Seminary California in Escondido, CA and came out for a long weekend to visit the school -- a visit which conveniently included time for long walks on the beach and a Saturday afternoon sailing trip with her, ahem, really good friend Stephen.

In July of 2019, Cassady began her seminary studies in Escondido and we spent the next year or so going on a lot of really fun "friend dates." Then, on an August afternoon in 2020, we sat underneath the Oceanside pier and decided to test out this crazy theory that we could have MORE fun if we actually started dating. It turns out dating your best friend is just about the most fun two people can have together, so before long we began to talk about spending the rest of our lives together.

On May 2, 2021, Stephen surprised Cassady by proposing during an early birthday adventure at the Carlsbad Flower Fields. Later that evening, he brought together a few of our friends for a(nother) surprise birthday-turned-engagement party at Cordiano Winery, which is where our reception will be held on August 28, 2021. After the wedding, Cassady plans to finish up her last semester of seminary while working full-time for Westminster, and Stephen will likely continue to sympathy-stress about her term papers while doubling his commute to work.