Mackenzie and I actually met when we were in middle school at St. Clairsville. We were acquaintances throughout high school, as we hung out with a similar group of friends. It wasn’t until our senior year of college that we saw more in each other than just friends. Almost 6 years later, we are engaged, own a home together, and deeply love our crazy pup Lola ☺️ Mackenzie proposed on September 29, 2018 in Pickerington, OH. We had plans to go to Columbus to have a weekend of fun with his sisters Meredith, Mallory, and Miranda, and brother in law Richie for the OSU / Penn State Game Day. When we arrived at Meredith and Richie’s house nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the fact I was ready to start drinking mimosas and everyone else seemed to disregard this (which isn’t typical!) Well turns out, his sisters had been plotting with Mackenzie to prepare the surprise and wanted to wait to pop the champagne until after he proposed. As I walked outside with Mackenzie, I saw carved pumpkins that read “Will You Marry Me” on a beautifully decorated table outside. I truly was shocked and didn’t think he would be able to surprise me when it came time for a proposal! He was cooler than a cucumber all morning and I had never suspected a thing! I will never forget the feeling of seeing Mackenzie down on one knee❤️ The irony of this situation is that I was wearing OSU gear when any other Saturday in the fall you can catch me in my blue and gold WVU apparel 😂 At one point before Mack proposed, Meredith had asked me if I had any WVU shirts I was going to wear.. which I never thought anything about until later. Thank you to his sisters for all of the help in carrying this out, it’s a day we’ll always cherish 💕

We all know the famous line “Love is patient, love is kind.” Mackenzie and I have gained a strong relationship with this phrase over the last several months. Our original wedding date was planned for May 23, 2020. Unfortunately, as we all know, COVID-19 struck and we changed our date to August 1, 2020. That was really a difficult change to make since that original date was so near and dear to our hearts for over a year and a half. After gaining optimism and hope for August 1, it became clearer that this date may also not be in our favor. Ultimately, after talking with family members, we decided that everyone’s health was most important to us and made a final date change to May 29, 2021. It may be difficult to wait another year, but it would have been even more difficult knowing many of our loved ones were not in attendance for such a special day. I think after all of the emotions we’ve been through May 29, 2021 will be an even more magical day 💙 We want to thank our parents for being so supportive in all of this. We have some pretty amazing marriage role models to look up to. Also, shout out to my mom for helping me to plan not only one, not two, but essentially three weddings! We’ve had to call and arrange new dates with our vendors each time, which is anything but a walk in the park!