Emily and Derek met on Hinge… where Emily quickly learned that Derek is not a rapid responder. Sometimes his replies took a full day (yes, really), but luckily her patience paid off when he finally asked her out on a bowling date. The date went great… or so Emily thought—until Derek didn’t even hug her goodbye. Naturally, she assumed he wasn’t interested. Classic. But plot twist: he texted her after saying he wanted to see her again. Their second date? New Year’s Eve. And as it turns out, that little old wives’ tale about kissing at midnight is very real 💋

From there, they spent as much time together as possible. Derek will tell anyone that they work so well because Emily is the sweet one… and he is the “mean one” (his words, not ours)—aka the sarcastic, teasing one. When they weren’t working, they were pretty much inseparable—filling all their extra time with hiking, paddle boarding, watching movies, and building book nooks. They also perfected the art of wandering through HomeGoods, Emily convincing Derek that they needed more throw pillows. They even picked up golfing together… well, Derek golfs, and Emily expertly drives the golf cart (which she would argue is the most important role). They quickly became travel partners too. Their first trip together was a long weekend in Yellowstone, followed by a road trip to San Diego where Derek attended a veterinary conference… and Emily fulfilled a lifelong dream of seeing killer whales.

Before their trip to Florida, Derek decided to “propose” with a ring pop. Emily, fully aware this was a joke, said yes anyway—thinking that would be the one and only fake proposal. She was wrong. Derek had secretly recruited his mom to supply an entire party pack of ring pops, and spent the whole day in Florida fake-proposing over and over again. At this point, Emily assumed every proposal attempt was just another joke. So later that day, when she saw Derek slip a ring pop into his pocket before heading out, she thought, here we go again. After a walk along the beach, they stepped up to the waters edge to watch the sunset. This time, Derek got down on one knee… and instead of a ring pop, he pulled out the real ring and asked Emily to marry him. She obviously said yes—making that Valentine’s Day the best one in history ❤️

Next up: Scotland for their honeymoon—where Derek is excited for all the castles, and Emily is equally excited for all the horses 😉 They’ll be settling into Derek’s home in Utah and are so excited to start forever together… with plenty more sarcasm, adventures, and probably a few more ring pops along the way.