Jordan and Evan met in 2018 at their friend Liz’s birthday party. Jordan was close with Liz, while Evan was friends with Liz’s then-boyfriend, Jake. They briefly crossed paths that night, but nothing much came of it. Over the years, they saw each other on different occasions, most notably even sitting next to each other at Liz and Jake’s wedding, without ever really connecting. Fast forward to 2024, Liz invited Jordan to her house for a girls’ weekend while Jake was supposed to be out of town. A week before the trip, Liz called with an update: Jake would actually be around and might join for hiking and dinner. Jordan happily agreed - she loved Jake. Then came the follow-up question: could one of Jake’s friends come along too? Jordan briefly had the thought "well, Jake's friends are kind of weird" but embracing the “more the merrier” mindset, Jordan said "sure! why not?" That friend, of course, was Evan. What started as a casual group hike quickly turned into hours of easy conversation between the two of them. Evan even joined the group at dinner that night (with Liz and Jake both noting that they had never seen him be so punctual), but after the weekend ended, they once again went their separate ways. A few weeks later, while on a trip to Hawaii, Jordan did something she rarely does, she posted on her Instagram stories. Evan took the opportunity to reply, and Jordan responded, thinking she had simply made a new friend. After several days of back-and-forth messages, Jordan turned to her sisters and asked, “Is this guy sliding into my DMs?” to which they replied "um- yes!" Texts turned into long phone calls that stretched for hours, and what started as a “new friend” quickly became something much more. And now they're here - planning their happily ever after. (See below for a picture Liz and Jake took as a joke during that first hike)