Matthew Hamaker, born in Virginia Beach, Va, graduated Cox High School went on to attend Virginia Wesleyan College and graduated from Old Dominion University. He is currently a history teacher at Landstown High School. Whitney Gundlach, born in Virginia Beach, Va, graduated Bayside High School went on to attend Longwood University and graduated from Sentara College of Health Sciences. She is currently a Certified Surgical Technologist at Sentara Leigh Hospital.

Both Virginia Beach natives, Matthew and Whitney first met on July 7th, 2018 at The Back Deck after many exchanges on the Bumble app. Whitney first noticed his natural poise and how effortlessly he talked and drew people in. "Unapologetically him" is how she described it. He first noticed her selflessness. He heard about how she ran rescue (like his mom had) and worked at CHKD. It wasn't just a job to her though because her hair was much shorter when they met thanks to St. Baldricks. A visible testimony to the deep waters that were running underneath that calm, beautiful demeanor. Matthew knew he wanted to be with someone who cared about others as much as he did and this was a promising start. The two took things slow, but quickly bonded over TV shows like This Is Us, Brooklyn 99, and Stranger Things. And movie date nights were easy since, according to Matthew, Whitney has only seen 3 movies. So there was a lot of fair game. As of this writing Whitney has now seen as many as 10 movies. Their relationship took a natural progression once officially starting to date with a few road trips to DC and South Carolina and a small vacation to the Outer Banks. Once Whitney got her own place last summer, Matthew's belongings soon began accumulating there. Months later, after weeks of looking at dogs at the VBSPCA, they rescued a dog together, Pepper, and she is the single cutest organism to have ever existed.

Once the couple moved in together, it didn't take long for talks about marriage to start. Matthew knew he wanted to go to a specific jeweler to buy his engagement ring. He knew he may be in over his head so the two went ring shopping together so Matthew could ensure the ring was perfect for Whitney. Obviously Whitney knew a proposal would be coming, she just didn't know how soon. (Whitney's only request was no holidays, which Matthew obliged.) Matthew picked up the custom-made ring on December 24th and popped the question December 27th. Matthew and Whitney had season passes for Busch Gardens and figured they could attend Christmas Towne on the 27th before the season was over, followed by a nice dinner in Williamsburg. Whitney invited Matthew's two older brothers to join, unknowingly inviting her photographers for the big event. With long lines at Busch Gardens, Matthew tried to throw Whitney off by suggesting they skip dinner and stay at the park with his brothers to see more of Christmas Towne. Whitney absolutely refused that idea. Once at The Williamsburg Inn, the couple told the hostess they wanted to take some photos outside prior to dinner. The building was still lit up for Christmas and looked beautiful. Whitney loves how it looks! Matthew told the wait staff ahead of time that he was proposing, so they said they didn't mind a few photos even though they were a little late for the reservation. Naturally, Matthew had to tell a few corny jokes before he finally popped the question. His brothers were able to photograph the proposal without Whitney realizing. The restaurant gave them the best seat in the house and had champagne waiting. It was a beautiful evening! Matthew and Whitney are very excited to start this new adventure in life together and look forward to a magical wedding.