If you ask Josh: How we first met—fate... I remember that it was a Friday. Being the hip 20-something that I was, I couldn’t be caught staying in on a Friday night, so I reached out to a friend, Greg Black, and met him in Broad Ripple at OPTs. He told me that he was meeting up with a couple of his friends who turned out to be Bethany and Danielle. We drank, we conversed, we matched wits in Giant Jenga, and then called it a night. It was a week later that by dumb luck I ran into Bethany again. We went out on our first date shortly thereafter and she has been the only one for me since. If you ask Bethany: Danielle and I used to "hustle" people at Giant Jenga at Old Pro's Table in Broad Ripple ("hustle" because we'd declare the loser had to buy drinks... and Danielle and I were really good). We were with our friend Greg, who received a text from Josh asking what he was up to. Soon after, Josh showed up and was challenged to a game of Jenga. After a lot of sh!t-talking, my interest was piqued. I saw him again a week later in Broad Ripple, and quickly realized that though we’d never met, we had a group of mutual friends.

If you ask Josh: The day after buying Bethany's engagement ring, I was driving to work, listening to the radio. They said the date was “March 6, 2019” or “3-6-9” as I heard it, and I immediately loved the synchronicity of the date. So while driving to work, I called to order some giant balloons. However, I later received notice that my balloon order was cancelled because there was a helium shortage in Indianapolis. Instead of having floating balloons, I scrambled to fill them with compressed air. In preparation for the proposal, I had already procured tuxedo t-shirts for Wiggins, Humphrey and myself (the dogs' shirts were too small). I also got 3 dozen roses. I got home and set everything up and laid a single rose at the edge of our kitchen island. I was keeping tabs on Bethany through my iPhone because we share our locations. As she approached our house, I positioned myself in the living room, just through the entrance from the kitchen. When she entered, my biggest fear came to life: she was on a work call! So there I am on bended knee, listening to her on the phone in the kitchen, just shaking down to my core. Thankfully she hung up and turned the corner with the single rose in her hand. At this point, I was already sobbing and threw out the speech I had prepared for her. Instead I simply asked her to be my forever plus 1. We kissed, we hugged, and she didn’t actually say yes until about 30 minutes later. If you ask Bethany: I came home from work on a random Wednesday, and there was Josh on one knee in the middle of our living room with giant balloons everywhere, 3 dozen roses, a tuxedo t-shirt (he also had tux shirts for the dogs), and a beautiful ring in hand. He had tears in his eyes before I even came around the corner. His exact words were "Bethany Ann Odom, will you be my forever Plus One?" I don't think I actually remembered to say yes, but instead kneeled on the floor with him for hugs and kisses.

We have been very intentional with every detail when planning our wedding. Handpicking our officiant and DJ, the music we’ll play, how we selected our bridesmaids and groomsmen, how we'll get to the altar, the involvement of our families and wedding party in our vows, the guest book, etc. etc... every decision made has been deliberate. This ceremony will be more "us" than what is "normal" or traditional. The reception? We just want to have a big party with our favorite people and celebrate our newly-official marriage. Time to eat, drink, dance, and ring in the New Year!