Kaitlyn and Zac met the old-fashioned way - online. Their first date was at Wood n’ Tap restaurant, a safe halfway point between Kaitlyn’s house in Shelton and Zac’s in New Britain. Kaitlyn agreed to a second date, despite Zac having ordered the girliest drink on the menu - a Mai Tai. Something that Kaitlyn will never let him live down.

The next couple months of dates were all wonderful. Hockey games, breweries, baseball games, axe throwing. So it only made sense that after three amazing months of dating, Zac moved four hours away to Elmira, New York (lol). Fortunately, they were able to smoothly navigate the long-distance relationship, frequently meeting up at the halfway point of Roscoe, New York - a charming small town that they both came to love.

Kaitlyn and Zac celebrated Christmas in Iceland in 2024. While Kaitlyn is normally a nervous flyer, Zac’s nerves may have outweighed hers this time, as he was traveling with a very precious item - an engagement ring. He kept the ring on him the entire trip, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pop the question. He wanted to propose beneath the Northern Lights, but Iceland’s cloudy skies throughout the week were making that very difficult. On the last night of the trip, Kaitlyn and Zac (both very sick with the flu) set their alarms for 2 in the morning. They were determined to catch a glimpse of the elusive Lights. They woke up, walked out into the chilly December air, and ventured to the ocean where they’d have open skies. They waited, waited, and waited, desperately looking to the sky for the dancing blues, greens, and pinks. As it was becoming clear the Lights were not going to cooperate, Zac took his opportunity. Lights or no Lights, he was going to do this in Iceland like he planned. He got down on one knee right there in the snow, and asked her. Kaitlyn couldn’t tell you what the heck he said, but she’s sure it was sweet, and she of course said yes.