Time to celebrate!

Lewis and Katie met for the first time when he came over to Katie’s house on New Year’s Eve to hang out and get to know her while she got ready for night out plans with her friends. Even though COVID rules had long since ended, Lewis kept his respectful 6-foot distance. Katie had to leave to meet her friends, so she extended the invitation for Lewis to join her, which he politely declined to spend time with his own friends. At this point, she was sure he wasn’t interested in her, and his side hug upon leaving sealed the deal. However, as per usual, Katie was overreacting and Lewis was actually incredibly interested in her. Having missed the chance to be her New Year’s kiss, he made sure to set up follow-up plans. By January 5th, he had already decided he’d found his other half, and they made it official. Just two years later, Lewis surprised Katie by asking her to marry him at a peak of the Appalachian Trail near Big Bald Mountain in Mars Hill, North Carolina. Surrounded by family, Lewis and Katie began their journey toward marriage on December 29, 2024! Now, they are excited to share their love with the rest of their friends and family as they tie the knot in Orlando on April 4, 2026.

Katie and Lewis didn’t have any dates in mind when they became engaged and were simply excited to get married. However, they knew they wanted to wait about a year to allow for less stressful planning and to ensure everyone who wanted to attend was able to plan the time and money to join them to celebrate! Because Katie is a teacher, they originally planned to wed in June, so Katie would be out of school. However, they like to say that Katie is a bit of a numbers girl, and they decided to go with a date that was more meaningful. Katie was born on August 8 and has always been partial to things that connect with that number. After an odd dream that had her waking Lewis up in the middle of the night claiming the need for a date change, he couldn’t help but give in! Katie chose April 4 because of the date repetition similar to her birthday and because of 4 being half of 8. To add, she thought it was really unique that the 4/4/26 date was balanced, with 4 + 4 and 2 + 6 both adding to 8. She may not be a math teacher, but she couldn’t pass by the opportunity to have a date that had such a fun pattern. Lewis, realistically, couldn’t have cared less about the math of the date, but he cares a whole lot about Katie so the date was locked in!