Erik + Katie met at Iowa State University in 2016. They were set up by a mutual friend as blind dates for Erik's fraternity's date party. They hit it off and had a lot of fun, but went their separate ways. Several months later, they were both in Gulf Shores, AL for spring break where they reconnected and became inseparable after returning to Iowa State. On April 22, 2016 Erik made it official and asked Katie to be his girlfriend. Summers were mostly spent apart but they always looked forward to fall when they returned to Iowa State and lived in the same city again! Erik graduated from Iowa State University in December 2017 and moved back to the Twin Cities in preparation to start his first full-time job. In Spring of 2018, Katie left for the study abroad trip of a lifetime with her home base in Florence, Italy. Long distance is never easy, but it truly does make the heart grow fonder! Erik, along with his mom and Katie's mom, visited Katie in Europe for 2 weeks after her program was done and made some incredible memories! Katie graduated from Iowa State University in December 2018 and moved back to Des Moines to begin her first full-time job post graduation. Long distance isn't for the faint of heart and it didn't last for long. Erik + Katie began making plans to move into their first apartment together in June 2019. Little did she know something much bigger was coming before that... In May 2019, Erik + Katie took an incredible trip to Seattle with some friends. On the day Erik intended to propose, Katie wasn't in such a great mood (hello spring allergies + rainy Seattle weather!). Everything happens for a reason, because the following day they went hiking and Erik got down on one knee at the summit and popped the question! Lucky for him, he had an audience of an entire field trip of school aged kids walked up right as he proposed. After a long engagement, they are so thrilled to be celebrating with friends + family!