https://youtu.be/FE1_IL8WO9E

We have decided to go ahead with our wedding. In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, all attendees of the wedding are required to wear masks, guests will be seated as far apart as possible, and we will be holding the reception outside. We acknowledge that even with these safety precautions in place, that an event of this size is still risky. We encourage anyone to stay home who feels uncomfortable attending the wedding. A link to the live-stream of the ceremony will be made available on this website on the day of the ceremony. We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Best wishes, Eva Ruth and Nathan

As any good, angsty love story begins, neither one of us thought the other person was interested. It all started in the fall of 2017. We were both attending Covenant College at the time and had been going to Christ Reformed Baptist Church for over a year. Nathan had started liking Eva towards the beginning of the semester and, as usual, she was completely oblivious and not looking for a serious relationship. (#christianfeminism) Slowly but surely, we began to grow closer to each other through some mutual friends (shoutout to Trent and Sophie for dragging us along to weekly Sunday night hangouts at The Blink, Covenant’s late-night café). Fast-forward to October and Eva realizes that, at last, she would actually like to get to know Nathan better. Finally, Nathan drew up the courage to ask Eva out on a date right before Christmas break. Borrowing previously-mentioned friend Sophie’s car, Nathan picked up Eva on the night of a reading day and they went to The Terminal, a popular restaurant in downtown Chattanooga that serves burgers (Nathan’s favorite food). After the meal, we walked around in the 20 degree weather (because why not?), talking about everything from our families to what we wanted to do with our lives post-college. Dropping Eva off at her dorm at Covenant, Nathan tentatively suggested that, “we should do this again sometime,” to which she readily agreed. Overall, the first date had been really good and the only thing Nathan regretted was not asking Eva for her number. We had a few more somewhat awkward encounters during finals week (with Eva agonizing that Nathan had not enjoyed their first date as much as she had), and then it was time to go home for Christmas. After what felt long like a never-ending, torturous winter break that was filled with texting (Nathan had wisely asked for and received Eva’s number by that point), we started officially dating on January 13, 2018. It was, as they say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Skip ahead to the fall semester of 2019. For Eva’s fall break in October, we drove to New Orleans to stay with and visit her cousin Katie. Nathan knew that Eva suspected that he would propose to her in the month of November, which meant that this was the perfect time to propose in order to surprise her. Nathan had been messaging Katie to plan the perfect proposal. Everything was coming together – the engagement ring may have arrived in the mail only a day before we left and Nathan may have had to borrow a camera from a friend last-minute – but besides that, things were going smoothly. It was finally Sunday, the day of the proposal. Nathan was nervous the entire day. The sermon at church was about anxiety (which did nothing to help calm him). We ate lunch at Willa Jean, a restaurant with lovely Southern vibes in downtown NOLA. Eva tried to engage Nathan in a deep conversation concerning the interaction between theology and feminism, to which Nathan could barely respond intelligibly. He insisted that they visit Audubon Park afterwards, which seemed a little odd to Eva (she had wanted to go and walk around the French Quarter). We drove to the Tree of Life where Katie and her boyfriend Mac were hiding, waiting to take pictures and video the proposal. After walking around the tree, with Nathan wincing every time he saw Katie’s camera poking around a nearby tree, he positioned Eva in front and got down on one knee. As he began his speech, Eva became very confused. She put her hand under his elbow and whispered “get up” repeatedly, convinced that Nathan was joking around. After Nathan continued to speak, Eva’s face turned from complete shock to utter joy. Nathan finished and (to his relief) Eva said yes. After excitedly reuniting with Katie and Mac and taking more pictures, we went off to explore. For the rest of that afternoon, Eva was still in shock. Honestly, she still hasn't gotten over it yet. But she doesn't mind.