Matt and Michaela met at Purdue University the day before freshman classes started. On Sunday August 24, 2014, Matt went to church with his roommate at St. Tom's and Michaela went to church with her new running buddies. And then the fireworks started...well, not exactly. To be honest; neither Matt nor Michaela remember meeting each other on that day but they deduced that they did meet that day, as they both remember everyone else that was there. The next three years, Matt and Michaela were friends, sports rivals, teammates, confidants, study buddies, chauffeurs, and even babysitters to their immature friend group. Matt, being the smart man that he is, figured out that he wanted to spend more time with Michaela; but Michaela didn't immediately realize that Matt was the man of her dreams. Eventually she realized that Matt was pretty great, and decided to go on a date with him. Their first date was at The Pint for wine slushies and beer floats and at the movies to see Murder on the Orient Express. They started dating December 12, 2017, and the rest is history.

Michaela is a romantic, and thus wanted a very romantic engagement. Matt tried to create the perfect engagement which meant that he needed Tracy (Michaela's sister) to help. Matt decided to propose at Michaela's favorite childhood vacation spot, Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, MI. Michaela already had plans to visit Glen Arbor with her family and one of her best friends, Nicole. Matt, Nicole, and Michaela arrived a couple of days earlier than the rest of Michaela's family...or so that is what Michaela believed. Matt, Nicole, and Michaela decided to go to Cherry Republic for lunch, and once they arrived Nicole (the excellent actress that she is) answered a pretend phone call leaving Matt and Michaela alone. Matt walked Michaela up in front of the Cherry Republic House where he then proposed in front of the photographer who was hiding. In the following minutes, Michaela was surprised to find that Tracy and Shruthi, another of her best friends, had been there all along ready to celebrate with Michaela...which was only the start to a weekend full of celebrations: Michaela's parents joined later, Matt and Michaela had a romantic dinner date at Glen Arbor's finest, Matt rented a party bus to take the group to all of the wineries the next day in which Mark (Michaela's brother-in-law) flew in to join. Matt and Michaela had a weekend that they will never forget.