We're glad you're here

Zack and Margaret met at Clemson University in the fall of 2016. In what they believe to be a "love at first sight" moment, they stood across from each other in the stretching circle on the first day of practice at Clemson Crew. After this chance encounter, Zack and Margaret did everything they could to continue spending time together... From Zack giving Margaret rides home in his 1989 red BMW (and not-so subtly playing Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede every day). To Margaret sending an open invite to any three people wanting to go to her first sorority "crush party" when she really only wanted Zack to say yes! After a month of hanging out, Zack asked Margaret on their first date. The date took place on Saturday, September 17th, after the Tigers won 59-0 against the South Carolina State Bulldogs. Zack planned the perfect last-first-date. He took Margaret on a hike down his favorite trail in the Clemson Experimental Forest. Margaret's only job was to bring the s'mores supplies. They swam in Lake Hartwell, Zack made a fire, and they watched the sunset. The most exciting part of the evening took place on their walk back through the woods in the dark. As they strolled along, they heard dogs barking and came across what seemed to be a hunting party in the middle of the pathway. Men holding hunting rifles asked "see anything strange out there tonight?" Zack and Margaret looked at each other, stated that they had not, and took off running towards Zack's car. They sprinted all the way to the car, hopped in, out of breath, looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Looking back, Zack says this is the moment he fell in love with Margaret. Zack officially asked Margaret to be his girlfriend in October. He picked her up from a girls dinner she was attending with her "Sanders Sisters" (girlfriends in Sanders Hall) and took her to a movie in Anderson, SC. After the movie, he walked her to the front of Sanders Hall, and as he asked her to go steady, the bells of Old Main chimed midnight. Because of the peculiar timing of the official start of their relationship, he and Margaret got to pick between the 4th and 5th for the date of their anniversary, landing on October 5th. The wedding will take place on their eighth anniversary. Fast forward through two Clemson National Championships, COVID graduations, moves to Greenville, SC, and Bryan-College Station, TX, Zack asked Margaret to marry him on March 11th, 2023. Since they had always planned to get married on October 5th, 2024, they worked backwards to pick the perfect time to get engaged, spring 2023. For Valentine's Day, Zack gifted Margaret three "dweekends" (date-weekends) to San Antonio, Seattle, and Fredericksburg. Margaret deliberated with her friends on which of the weekends it would happen, but once they were in San Antonio, she knew it was the one. On Friday night, Zack got them tickets to see one of her favorite musicals, Hairspray. In the morning, he planned for them to go to the San Jose Mission and the Botanical Gardens, always stating that they could "skip" the Mission if they didn't want to get up early. They made it to the Mission right when it opened but Margaret was thrown off at this point. She casually wandered the grounds of "the Queen of the Missions," reading all of the signage and marveling at the structure. Meanwhile, Zack kept mentioning how he wanted to see the underneath of the Mission's arches. However, when they turned the corner, there was another couple taking engagement photos in the exact spot Zack meant to propose. He began to visibly get stressed, so Margaret asked why he was acting so weird (not thinking anything of it!) Then Zack said "because it's happening right now," got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him. We cannot wait to celebrate eight years of Zack and Margaret with all of our favorite people on October 5th, 2024. Thank you for your support, friendship, and most of all, love. See you soon!