The summer of 2014, I visited Austin Texas for the first time and instantly fell in love with the city. When I got back to Illinois I saved up my money for six months and moved to Austin. I hadn’t seen my apartment or ‘technically’ had a job, but I knew that was where I was meant to be. After a few weeks I wanted to meet friends so I decided to take a swing dance class that I had found off of Groupon. When I pulled up, I immediately saw a girl that was looking around for someone. She was going into the same building I was so I caught up to her and we began talking. I found out her name was Carlee and she was so nice, but she was still looking around for someone. I thought for sure she was waiting for her dance partner and that I was going to be the only one in the class without a partner and would have to dance alone. The class was about to begin when a handsome man walked in and gave her a big hug. ‘Ahh this must be her dance partner’ I thought. But right away she said “Lauren this is my brother John.” After class Carlee was talking to someone else so I went to pick up my stuff and her brother John came up to me. He told me if I liked vintage things and dancing that I should definitely check out this Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs they had been telling me about. From then on, we took any chance we could to dance together. Even though we did more laughing than dancing, we became very good swing dancers and would go to the Fed every Thursday. As we started to get to know each other I was shocked by how much we had in common. Talking to John was so comfortable and I felt like I could tell him anything. One night after dancing, we walked over four miles from the Fed to Magnolia Cafe, just talking and getting to know each other. I feel so blessed to have found someone who shares my core values and enjoys the same things I do. He has always felt like home to me and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. He is truly my soul mate.

When I first saw Lauren in dance class, I was immediately drawn to her disarming smile and playful personality. She was so fun to talk to and so excited to experience new things in Austin. When we’d dance together in class, we fit really well together, even though we ended up joking and laughing with each other as much as actually practicing the dance moves. She was very busy at work and very unavailable to hang out with me, but I eventually persuaded her to come to the Mansion (our wedding venue!) for one of their Thursday night dances. Through those Thursday nights, we slowly got to know each other better and better. We had so much fun together, I loved her spirited and joyful disposition. We found out we were both vegetarians! Because the only times we saw each other was during dance class or Thursday night dancing, we got pretty good at dancing! Still she played hard to get, and I had to slowly win her heart by delivering plants and late-night sushi to her apartment after her long days of work. After weeks of effort, I eventually I was able to finally persuade her to go on a date with me, leaning heavily on my years of living in Austin to convince her that I could help her get to know the city. We had lunch at Bouldin Creek Cafe, and the rest is history! Fairly quickly it felt like we had known each other forever, and that we belonged together. She comforts me, laughs with me, supports me in times of difficulty, celebrates with me in times of triumph, and is an amazing mother to our puppies and cat. I am so excited to finally get married to the girl of my dreams and begin the next chapter of our lives together!