We’re getting married!

Stephanie's Story: I had tried eHarmony and was ready to give up when my brother-in-law encouraged me to just give it one more try. And wow, am I glad I did! A few days after renewing my membership, low and behold this pony-tailed Episcopalian rhetoric professor showed up in my feed. We met at The Cheesecake Factory for our first date and the rest is history! Allen's Story: Much like Stephanie, I had tried online dating and was ready to give up. But my roommate at the time urged me to “give it one more shot!” So, I joined eHarmony and soon after, I was matched up with Stephanie. During our first date, we actually laughed about our experiences with online dating and shared how we were glad that we kept at it until the right person came along. That first date, as Stephanie noted above, was at The Cheesecake Factory, and the chemistry was so good, that we actually shut the place down – it wasn’t until our server nervously said, “Um, we’re closing soon,” that we realized what time it was. Halfway through that first date, however, I thought to myself, “Wow, I could fall in love with this woman.” And then I did.

We had talked about getting engaged in January or February of 2018 and so that's where my (Stephanie's) mind was focused. On Christmas Eve, we had a lovely low-key day and after a home cooked candlelight dinner, we sat down on the couch to open our stockings. After all the gifts were open, Allen said that he had one more present. He handed me a small beautifully wrapped box. I carefully unwrapped it - as I did so he slipped to one knee on the floor in front of me and proposed. My heart was beating so loudly that I saw his lips mouth "Stephanie, will you marry me?" but could barely hear his words. Amazingly, as I sprung up to hug him and say yes, I managed not to fall over or knock any of the lighted candles over (for those who know my clumsiness, this was truly part of the wonder of the proposal). I had a hard time keeping my eyes off of what was a truly astounding ring, but managed to do so enough to make it to the Christmas Eve service at our church where we happily shared the news of our engagement with our family and rector.