We are getting married!

Joe and Emma met back in 2018 after Emma’s very first day of classes at Louisiana Tech. Joe was giving his newly found “welcome all” attitude a try, getting people to come to the worship service where they met. Over the next 2 months, they were only friends meeting together in large groups going on trips until Fall Fest in late October of 2018. Joe and Emma struck up a conversation over tending the fire pit and literal sparks began to fly. As Emma walked away to try dancing “lessons” at the event, Joe realized that he just had a conversation he didn’t want to end. He marched out onto the floor to steal her away from the partner she was dancing with. As he brought her to the dorms, he reached for her hand to kiss it goodnight, and instead received a High-Five… She went inside thinking that she just had a wonderful time; he drove back to his dorm thinking that he was just friend-zoned. He took a chance a few days later to ask her out again, and Thank God she said yes. What followed was not a whirl-wind romance, but relationship that grew over time. There was so much love, but there was also friendship and patience as they navigated their relationship. Through college graduations, long distances, and new opportunities, they went through it all together, and are excited to finally be at a place in life where they can stay together. Their wedding and marriage is just the beginning another new experience, and they will go forward as they always have, hand in hand.

Over the summer of 2022, Joe and Emma took a trip to Disney World. Let’s get one thing straight, right off the back: She knew. She didn’t know how or when, but she knew the purpose of Disney. Joe had the whole thing planned, from dinner at the Be Our Guest Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, to the moment he would take a drop on one knee. However, it would not be an Emma and Joe story if everything went according to plan. When Emma stepped away, the waitress came to ask how Joe wanted it to go down. They would provide a dessert tray with the words “Will You Marry Me” written out in edible glitter. Joe understood it as they would bring it to the table, but they meant it as they would bring them out to the center of the dining room for pictures. Joe left the ring box at the table, so...When they came with the platter to the center of the dining room, Joe swept Emma back to the table before she could read it. It was at this point Joe dropped to one knee, but he struggled to get his speech out, so Emma had to gently remind him that she could not say yes to something that she had not been asked. Holding back tears, Joe finally asked the question. You can probably guess her response. The rest of the trip was pretty amazing after that.