Our Story
His Side
Groom
Fast forward to 2019, I went to an Atlanta Dream vs Los Angeles Sparks game to see Candance Parker play for the first time in my life (my all-time favorite women’s basketball player by the way), but she did not play due to injury. After the game, Jakayla saw on my Instagram story that I was in Atlanta and asked me if I was still in the area once the game ended. I said yes and we agreed to meet at JFK Park. I got to the park first and waited for her to arrive. When she did, she was shocked that I showed up and waited for her to arrive because she was late. We sat there on the bench and talked for 2.5 hours about our lives and what we’d done since we last saw each other in high school. From then, we began to hang out more and more. For me, I was happy to be with someone who wanted to have fun without overthinking. It felt natural the more we hung out together, which for me, allowed me to feel safe and comfortable to be myself and do what I felt was best for me and Jakayla. In October 2019 for her birthday, I took her out to eat (nothing outrageous) and asked her if she wanted to be my girlfriend. She said yes. I met her family at Thanksgiving 2019 for the first time (everyone that meant the most to her) and she met my parents for the first time as well. Everyone got along well, and it did not feel “forced” or awkward at all. Ever since then, Jakayla and I have grown together every single day to be the best versions of ourselves for us and individually.
Her Side
Bride
After our first meetup in Atlanta, I remember calling my sister and telling her I thought I found the one. However, even after that feeling, my intentions remained the same, and we quickly became best friends. Shortly after we started dating, COVID hit, and the military decided to send Lukas to his next duty station. It was then that I knew there was no way I could spend my life without him. Now for the proposal story! I thought he was going to propose on my 30th birthday… he did not. Then I thought he would propose on Thanksgiving… not there either. We then went to New Orleans for Christmas, and I just knew he was going to propose then… but no. At this point, I was over it. While in NOLA, he told me he got me a dog for Christmas. I was so excited that it almost made me forget about the proposal. The plan was that when we returned home, his parents were supposed to pick up the dog and bring him to us. I was so ready, and delusional! I made the dog an Instagram page, a welcome home sign, signed him up for pet insurance, and even got us matching outfits. The next day, we went to the park to meet his parents. He told me to close my eyes and hold out my arms for the dog. When I opened my eyes, he was on one knee. To answer the question everyone is wondering, did I eventually get the dog? No, but I got something better—I get to be his wife.