7 years ago I was working in Raleigh with a group of recent graduates on a mission to prove ourselves and earn a territory. In that time I met my friend, Casey Kulka, the Penn State graduate whose father was a lumber jack. I would have never known that friendship and that time in Raleigh would lead me to finding the love of my life. Some years later Casey messaged me about a friend of hers who had moved to Charlotte. She wasn’t shy to insist that we needed to meet. If you have the pleasure of knowing Casey, a blind date with one of her friends could have been a risky proposition. To my surprise, in my hesitation, this cute blonde named Elise took the situation in her own hands and messaged me on Instagram. You read that right, she initiated the first move. The First Date: Dilworth Tasting Room Here is where our story gets good - of which I didn’t even know the full truth until 6 months after it happened. In June of 2022, Elise and I had agreed to meet at 7:00pm which was pushed back to 7:30pm because “something for work came up.” Knowing she was in sales, and it just happened to be the last day of Q2, I was impressed. It’s the last day of the quarter, of course take your time and close that deal! I arrived a few minutes early and got a table for us…. and proceeded to sit there by myself for 30 minutes. My waitress started to look concerned as a sat alone and waited for so long. The thought of getting stood up never really crossed my mind because all I could think about was how impressive this woman was that she would do whatever necessary to close a deal on the last day of the quarter. When she finally arrived, me being the smooth criminal I am really got her with the first words out of my mouth “you’re so much taller in person than your pictures.” Thanks??? The rest of the date went off without a hitch and Elise knew we would get married on June 30th, 2022. So, what was some important about that deal? Months go by and I’m informed what actually happened on that day. Elise had scheduled a “highlight hair” appointment at 3:00pm that afternoon and the adjustment from 7pm to 7:30pm came after the sudden realization she did not have enough time. Rumor has it that “every stylist in the salon” was working on her hair to get her to the date on time. When I texted her I had “gotten a table inside to the left”, she was currently in an uber home from the hair salon. To her credit, her turn around time at home in order to make it that night was extremely impressive. Three years later… she has never been late to a single event. We’re so excited to share our special day with the most important people in our lives. We appreciate you all taking the time to celebrate it with us. See you all in September! - Hunter & Elise