Kendall: One night after friends Morgan and Aaron Rice were newly engaged, we discussed their future wedding plans over FaceTime. During the middle of the conversation, Aaron mentioned that they would never have met if it hadn't been for Match.com. Morgan then and there made me download Match and told me what to fill out for every prompt and what pictures to use. After two weeks on Match, I was about to call it quits when I got a message from a guy named Samuel... Samuel: During COVID and going back to school to become a teacher, I wasn't expecting to find the right one. Taking a chance on Match.com, I saw a teacher on there. After talking for about two weeks, I took a chance and asked Kendall out on a date. Knowing her love for games and Harry Potter, I planned our date around brunch, mini golf, and Epic to see the "replica" of Diagon Alley. Our first date fostered our love of trying new foods, adventure, seeing new sights, a HEALTHY competition of trying every mini golf course we come across and spending quality time together.

At 6:25 pm on September 15, 2023, all of Samuel's hard work of picking out the perfect ring had finally come. He was on his way to pick up the ring. After picking up the ring, he was beyond proud and excited about how everything turned out. So much so that he ended up texting me a picture of the ring! After the mishap of sending the picture, I was BEYOND excited! Fast forward to October 13, 2023, Samuel and I had dinner with his parents planned along with going to Milwaukee to celebrate our second anniversary. At 10:30 am, I called Samuel to let him know I was leaving work with a case of the stomach bug and was going to try and sleep it off so we could still make our anniversary weekend. What I didn't know was that Samuel was home preparing to propose that night. He had cleaned the entire apartment, walked the dogs, and packed. After getting my call, he didn't want to give the surprise away, so he "messed up" the apartment (He went a little overboard). After sleeping for 6 hours, I got ready and packed and we left for Verona to have dinner. After about 15 minutes into the drive, Samuel stated he had forgotten his wallet and we needed to turn around and go back (This was not a part of the plan)! After getting back on the road and into Verona, Samuel says, "Why don't we take the dogs for a walk?" Now being sick, the last thing I wanted to do was go for a walk in the rain. After declining, he asked about ten more times laying it on thick with the guilt trip, "Kendall my parents shouldn't be out in the rain...the dogs need to lose some energy...We aren't going to see the dogs all weekend." After that last statement, I caved. We took both dogs to Epic and walked through Diagon Alley where we had our part of our first date. Someone was there with a camera, "taking pictures for an article". They had asked if we would like to be in a few showcasing Epic being pet-friendly. While posing for a few pictures, Samuel got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and started speaking. I blacked out, because all I could think about was, "I almost didn't come on the walk because of the rain and being sick!". After he had asked me, "Will you marry me?" I remember saying, "Are you serious right now? Are you joking?" He was not joking! After saying yes, I found out that the photographer was Julian's (best man) dad! I immediately wanted to call my parents to let them know that we just got engaged. That's when the next part of the surprise came in. My parents, who I thought had previous engagements, ended up showing up with Samuel's parents. They all worked together to plan the surprise of our engagement along with celebrating it afterward, as two families became one over dinner. The surprise of our engagement showed me how lucky I am to be getting the best partner out there. Samuel listened to me on the countless times I had stated, how much I want our families to be there. He did make our proposal one of the happiest days. Now, we can't wait to have you there with us, in celebrating one of the happiest days of our lives! Cheers!