Sharon and Stephen met the traditional way, on Hinge. Funnily enough neither of them were in Tacoma at the time, which was their set location on Hinge. They matched when Sharon was in Salt Lake City, UT (having just accepted a job offer in Tacoma) and Stephen was in Lewisville, NC (with plans to visit his brother in Tacoma for the holidays). After countless texts and numerous FaceTime dates, Sharon invited Stephen to visit over President’s day weekend. Coincidentally, Stephen’s favorite artist (Gryffin) was playing a show in SLC that weekend and it was their first concert together. In Stephen’s eyes, the weekend went well enough, but he somehow blew it and would never see or hear from her again. This was probably due to the fact that he catfished her into thinking he was an avid and experienced snowboarder (which was not the case) but fell down the mountain the entire time they were at Snowbasin. Also, a beautiful and scenic hike proved to be difficult for Stephen and he lagged behind both Teddie and Sharon. He thought that was the nail in the coffin for their relationship. Sharon didn’t see the weekend as a royal mess up on Stephen’s part. Though she was indeed snow sport catfished, she focused on the positives of the weekend. For instance, how well their first date went and the fact that Teddie and Stephen got along immediately. It was the Sunday afternoon before he left that night where he asked her to officially be his girlfriend. Somehow and some way, Sharon accepted! 2.5 years later and many special memories made along the way (including a month-long Europe trip to kickoff their official relationship) the two are getting married!

Stephen thoughtfully planned the proposal for months, even though keeping a secret made his tummy hurt. It all started with Stephen scrambling to get Sharon’s on-call weekend switched with one of her colleagues. This proved troublesome due to contacting her colleagues without her knowing. So Stephen called the hospital, explained his situation, but ended up where he started. After many other phone calls, Stephen had to resort to deception and fabricated a story in order to contact one of Sharon’s coworkers. This strategy succeeded, but there were still other factors to consider and execute. One of the most difficult aspects in this proposal was getting three doctors to align their schedules, and flights, for a holiday weekend. Although it felt near impossible, Sharon’s best friends proved to be the amazing people they are and made it work. Next was the surprise. Stephen had it all planned out. The arrival of the friends. The timeline of the day. The collaboration and coordination with the photographer. All of these components planned meticulously. Yet Sharon’s brilliance and deductive reasoning threw a wrench in all of it. She knew once her friends showed up, that something sneaky was going on. She then messed with Stephen by purposely asking questions about the logistics and timeline of the day. Lastly, she noticed Stephen being on his phone the entire time they were at the beautiful garden. Ultimately, the surprise was completely washed and Sharon knew what question Stephen was about to ask when they reached the “Love Bridge” at the scenic Japanese garden. Stephen was so nervous that words escaped him and asked Sharon to marry him without any real buildup to the moment. Still, she said yes! So did Teddie. The rest of the day was filled with walking for miles, laughter and reminiscing, good food, and great sights from the top of the Space Needle. To this day, Stephen still gets an upset tummy thinking about the stress, deceit, and careful planning for that special day. However it’s the butterflies from thinking about how special Sharon is that overpower any symptoms needed for pepto bismol.

When it came to planning the wedding, Sharon and Stephen started by making a list of their priorities. At the top of the list were maximizing quality time with the people they love, creating a fun and memorable experience for everyone, and sustainability. That’s how they came to choose IslandWood as the venue. They look forward to spending the whole weekend celebrating love and showing everyone the beauty of the Pacific Northwest!