Cassie and Chase first met in grad school at Duke. Chase was a recent graduate of UVA and Cassie had just graduated from Duke. Despite being ACC rivals, they quickly became part of a mutual friend group. Outside of the weekend group hangouts, they did not get to spend much time with one another given their contradicting class schedules. Chase asked Cassie out a few times with no such luck. Once second semester came around, they were not only in all the same classes, but also on the same team so every class assignment was to be completed together. They spent hours working on class projects, and eventually began to spend more and more time with each other outside of school work. In fact, their first "date" was kicking the soccer ball around on Duke's central campus turf field - Chase knew the way to Cassie's heart! After graduation, they both moved to NYC, and the rest is history!

It was Friday, July 30, 2021. It was Cassie's last day of the second quarter at Salesforce. She was waiting for one last contract to get signed. Little did she know, Chase wanted that contract signed more than she did, and asked her for an update on it every hour. Her response was the same every time, "No, not yet, and stop asking!" Finally, at 4:45pm, the contract was signed and a weight was lifted off BOTH of their shoulders. Two weeks prior, Cassie had made a reservation for that Friday night at their favorite wine bar to celebrate the quarter end. While Cassie was getting ready for dinner, Chase smoothly asked if she wanted to grab a glass of wine at his parents house prior to dinner. Since they've done this before, it did not cause any suspicion and Cassie happily agreed to make the pit stop. When they arrived to Chase's parents house, Isabella (Chase's younger sister), asked Cassie and Chase if they wanted a picture out on the dock. It was perfect weather and the backdrop was gorgeous - they easily agreed to step outside. As they began to pose for the picture, Chase got down on his knee and proposed. Cassie was in shock, but was not able to say "YES!" quick enough! Immediately after the proposal, some of Cassie and Chase's closest family & friends emerged onto the second story balcony and began cheering for the newly engaged couple. Chase somehow managed to get Cassie's family and closest friends down to Tampa without Cassie having any clue. Long story short, they did not make it to their dinner reservation, and Cassie and Chase had the best night celebrating their engagement with their favorite people! To put it in Cassie's words... "CHASE CRUSHED IT!" And boy, was he ready to hand the rest of the planning over to Cassie!