We grew up going to the same church (Garden City Baptist in Roanoke, VA). Our families grew up together as well. Our paths crossed multiple times due to this, especially because the bride is best friends with the groom's cousin, but age and timing were not right. Then one day back in 2023, the bride's sister and (future) brother-in-law got an idea to play matchmaker. The groom took initiative and set up a reservation at Billy's in downtown Roanoke and the rest is history.

The groom outdid himself on the proposal. We were vacationing in Turks and Caicos with our families and he set up a sunset photoshoot on the beach for our last night there. At the conclusion of the photoshoot, the groom asked for one more photo and got down on one knee. The photos of the bride's ugly cry are ones for the scrapbook for sure.