We're getting married!!!

We met in middle school but didn’t become friends until high school. We actually lived right down the road from each other, so when Emi’s car was totaled (guess who the better driver is lol), Braden very conveniently got to take Emi to school every day. Soon enough, wherever Emi went, Braden followed. Emi at Dunkin? Braden's there. Emi at the gym? Braden’s there. Emi at Chick-fil-A? Braden’s there. We quickly became best friends because being together was easier than not. While Braden was falling head-over-heels, Emi was taking her sweet time. How can you know for sure if the best-friends-to-lovers trope is going to work out or end in flames? Not worth the risk… yet. We went off to different colleges, but that didn’t stop our constant chatter on the phone. It just felt so natural to share our daily lives from the mundane college drama to the bigger moments: finally picking a major (only to change it two weeks later) or breaking a leg at a concert. No matter what happened, we were there for each other. Braden was truly playing the long game. Classes and friendships came and went, but we stuck around. We were practically tied at the hip whenever we were on break from college. Finally, someone convinced Braden to make the move (thank you, Dylan). Braden mustered all of the courage he had to tentatively broach the topic with Emi. Quite terrified but also, deep down, knowing this was meant to be, Emi said yes. This was December 2022, winter break of sophomore year in college. At that point, we had been best friends for about four years. Time passed, and we continued our usual phone conversations, as we were two hours apart with Braden at UNCW and Emi at UNC–Chapel Hill. However, when Valentine's Day rolled around, Braden showed up in Chapel Hill, flowers in hand, and took Emi out on their first date. 2/14/2023 - the day we made it official (corny, we know). The rest is history. When you go from best friends to partners, you get to skip a lot of the usual getting-to-know-each-other dates. As Braden likes to say, we were already dating long before we were officially dating. But this was even better - getting to spend all our time together just felt so right. As Emily Brontë put it, “Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Together, we challenge each other to be silly and lighthearted, to explore new cultures and foods, and to learn from people who are different from us. We push each other to be willing to fail rather than not try at all, to stand up for ourselves, and to imagine how we can make our community better. We remind each other to celebrate the little things, not just the big milestones, and to dream bigger than we would on our own. We balance each other: Braden with his go-with-the-flow mindset helps Emi slow down and enjoy the moment, while Emi helps keep everything else on track (lol JK... ). We encourage each other to be patient and kind, to take care of our bodies, and to continually refine our beliefs about the world, other people, and God. Together, we are both better and happier people, and we can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. We are so excited to share this next step in our relationship with you and so look forward to seeing you on our wedding day!