Lauren and Ryan met for the first time during a rehearsal for the Musical Theater Society at Slippery Rock University during the spring semester of 2016. Although the timing wasn't right just yet, the two became friends and grew close the following fall semester. By mid-September, Ryan and Lauren became a couple, and fell in love over the course of their senior year at SRU. After spending their first year out of college together, and nearly two years into their relationship, Lauren was offered a position as a kindergarten teacher at Kiptopeke Elementary School in Cape Charles, VA. Without hesitation (and with just about two weeks to do it), Lauren and Ryan packed up their lives in their two little cars (and Ryan's father's truck) and hit the Pennsylvania Turnpike and moved to Virginia Beach, VA! Midway through their 3-year stint in VA, Ryan decided it was time to buck up and finally ask Lauren to marry him. On March 11, he finally bought an engagement ring. That very evening, the NBA shutdown, and soon the entire world did too due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the pandemic preventing Ryan from his original plan to propose in early April, he was forced to wait a few extra months before finally being able to ask Lauren to marry him, alongside close friends and family, at the place where it all began: Slippery Rock University. Finally engaged, they decided that after one more year in Virginia, they'd be ready to move home to Pennsylvania, and begin planning their wedding. Now they are ready to enter the next chapter of their lives and to celebrate their love with all of you!