We're getting married!

It all started with a mutual friend. Sydney and Dana were great friends in high school. After graduating CPA in 2013, they went their separate ways. Sydney went on to play tennis at Vanderbilt, located in Nashville, while Dana packed her bags for Arkansas, where she would attend Harding. The two kept in touch and still hung out a couple times a year. Steven played baseball at Vanderbilt and Sydney and him ran in the same crowds, so they eventually became friends. Fast forward to December of 2018. Sydney hosted her annual girls christmas party in which Dana attended. Sydney posted a photo of the group of girls that night to her social media. Low and behold, Steven happened to be scrolling through social media & came across this photo. He spoted Dana and decided he would shoot his shot. He messaged her a sweet comment about how he thought she was pretty and would love to take her out on a date. She opened the message and let it fall to the side, not thinking much of it for she wasn’t interseted in dating. A few days later Steven reached out again! Dana reached out to Sydney and asked her about this guy who messaged her her. Sydney, to Dana’s surprise, seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea, saying “He is sweet & really funny and to at least have to give him a shot!” Steven AGAIN attempted to reach out, but this time suggested a coffee date instead. He even told her to bring her dog! Dana agreed to grab coffee & happily brought her pup along for the ride. Once they ordered coffee and sat down to chat, he pulled out dog treats and a water bowl. He thought of little Tati girl & came prepared! What was supposed to be a short Sunday morning coffee date, turned into an entire day of laughter and learning about each other. They ended up out together all day and even grabbed a dinner after walking in the park. Steven asked Dana to be his girlfriend in January 2019 & the past couple years have been filled with so much laughter, adventure, dates, movies and LOVE!

Dana and I had been talking about marriage for a few months leading up to the engagement. We visited Dana's family in California at the end of July. Dana's dad (Tom) and I scheduled a Tee Time at a golf course located in Anaheim Hills. It took me a good 15 holes to finally get the nerve to express my intentions with Dana and our future together as husband and wife, with his blessing of course! Tom gave me the green light, and then gave great advice on the foundations of a happy marriage. After that, I began to plan how I wanted to ask Dana to marry me. I knew we wanted everyone involved and there to witness the big day, so I began to text all our closest friends and family, to let thm know I had a date set with a plan (Shocking I planned something, I know). The plan was to propose to Dana in the park where we had our first date. 12 South (an area in Nashville) was rainy and wet due to storms that weekend, so plan B it was! Maddie (my sister) was visiting from Indiana and the two of us had Dana meet up in 12 South to "show Maddie around one of our favorite spots"... or so that's what Dana thought. Our mutual friend, Sydney, happens to actually live in that part of town, so plan B was to propose there. The three of us went over to Sydney's to wait out the rain when things got real! All morning long, Dana's best friends had been setting up the proposal site/party at Sydney's house and preparing for the big moment! Dana knocked on the door, Sydney opened. Dana was shocked by all the familiar faces and started thinking "What on earth are all these people doing here?"... She turned around to see me down on one knee with her diamond ring. *Cue ugly crying* "Will you marry me, honey?" were the words I said, and, SHE SAID YES (after a long wait)! The two of us were celebrated all afternoon by our cloestest friends and the entire day was perfect!