In Fall 2017, one football game with the Pride of Mississippi changed us forever. Dane playing his trombone and Kaitlen playing her mellophone in the stands, always cutting up. Kaitlen made a snarky comment (we’ll keep that comment a secret 🤫) and Dane was hooked. Kaitlen thought she’d flirt a little and said “man, I’m hungry. If only there was a cute boy around here to take me to dinner.” And that’s when Dane took Kaitlen out to Raising Cane’s. Yep, the chicken fingers. That was our first date. Our title of “game day buddies” has changed just a little since then!

Dane and Kaitlen have been planning to get engaged since 2022. In fact, Kaitlen designed her own engagement ring. The ring is set with her mothers diamond from the very ring she wore when her parents had been married. This particular ring was an anniversary ring from her father to her mother and replaced her original ring. This was a three diamond set, but Kaitlen being simple, only wanted one diamond. Dane is using the other two diamonds to create something special for Kaitlen. The only thing Kaitlen was not a part of is the planning of the proposal, that was left up to Dane. Dane and Kaitlen's best friends Devon and Kelcie came in for the weekend, for "no special occasion" and wanted to meet at Moncus Park. They told Kaitlen that they brought Mowgli (their dog) and that she needed to run around and let some energy out. Being gullible, Kaitlen fell for it. They had mentioned eating brunch afterwards, and Kaitlen always dresses up for brunch.... clever. We began walking to where we thought our friends were, and there was a small area off of the path, Dane began pushing toward it. It was surrounded by flowers and right in front of the lake. Dane asked, Kaitlen cried, and of course said yes. Devon and Kelcie got it all on camera! Kaitlen wanted to call everyone she knew right away, but Dane wanted to take it all in with just us. He specifically said "let's wait until we get into the air conditioning, and then we will call everybody." When Dane drove into the driveway of their home, it was hard not to notice all of the vehicles surrounding their home. Dane surprised Kaitlen with an engagement party at their own house, with the help of family. They cooked, cleaned, and celebrated with us. We partied all night with a couple of our friends. We cannot wait to party all night with the rest of our friends and family!