We met in 2013 during Clark Summit University's homecoming. Mary's parents are alumni, and at the time Joseph's sister was attending the school. Joseph had previously met Mary's younger sisters at a summer camp the school hosted, and her sister's introduced them. The two did not speak to each other again until 2014 when Joseph reached out to Mary on Facebook and from there the two became long distance friends. In 2016 they started dating, and most of their relationship was long distance because Mary was attending Anderson University. Four years later, they are currently living in Lynchburg, VA until after their wedding in June and then they will be moving to Portland, Oregon to start their new life there.

Joseph proposed to Mary during her final Spring into Dance performance at Anderson University. He reached out to some of the dance faculty and got their permission to propose on stage after the show. Joseph had Mary thinking he was working back in his home state (NY) and could not attend the show. Needless to say, he was successful in surprising Mary (she said yes). There is a video on Mary's Instagram capturing the whole moment.