Our reception venue has changed to Chenal Country Club. Please go to the Information tab to know the latest news about our wedding day and learn important details. If you are attending the dinner reception, please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions.

We first met in a class at Ouachita Baptist University. Estefanie was the really attractive foreign student who always sat at the front of the class, smiling and nodding at the professor. However, we never really had a conversation until we signed up for the European Study Tour, a three-week study abroad trip through Italy, France, and England. We saw each other every week in a preparation course and I noticed more how unreasonably attractive she was. On our flight to Rome, she ended up sitting across the aisle from me. We talked for some time and she couldn't stop laughing at the movies she was watching. I thought she was kind of crazy but fun. Later, Samantha Griffin (now Jamison) made a comment to me that we were flirting and hitting it off on the plane. I was oblivious to this which spoke to how natural our conversations were. We visited Rome, Florence, and Venice. I came to like her more as the trip went on. Next, we went to Paris. On her birthday, I intentionally dressed up really nice. We went to a Parisian restaurant with a group of friends to celebrate, watched an opera performance and then I helped her find her favorite macaron place before going to watch the Eiffel Tower light up at night. She told me it was her favorite birthday yet. Although she won’t admit it, it was at this moment I knew she liked me. From there, we went to London and continued to get to know each other better. On the flight back to the U.S., her seat was next to mine. I told her to watch one of my favorite movies with me, “O Brother Where Art Thou,” and she thought it was dumb. We would aim to stop and start our TV players on the plane at the same time. Little did we know this would become a common occurrence for us in the future. She ended up falling asleep on my shoulder and I knew it was my time. I realized after talking to her that she still had to fly back to Venezuela which made me think this relationship probably wouldn’t work and kind of wrote it off for the summer.

That summer I was studying for the LSAT and barely talked to her. It is funny how the Lord works though. He kept putting us together when we came back to school, basically screaming “Griffin, you need this woman.” We had partner roles leading the Ary Investment Fund team in the Fall of my senior year. We worked together a lot and I came to realize how intelligent and skillful she was with things that I had no clue about. Because she didn’t have a car, she often asked me to take her to Walmart or dinner, clearly an excuse to hang out. I came to like her more every time we hung out as I was intrigued by her intelligence, honesty, humor, and her interesting background that was unlike any of my friends. I took the LSAT in early October, the same month I asked her on our first date. We went to dinner and walked around downtown Hot Springs. It was a pretty basic date, but we had a lot of fun. That month, when I got the LSAT scores back, I did a lot better than expected. She was the first person that I called with the news. I realized how important she was to me at this moment. I wanted to share my biggest success at the time with her before anyone else. The next month, after a few dates, I cooked her dinner and asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes despite knowing I could be going to a law school far away.

I met and fell in love with her family the next summer. I didn’t eat vegetables and they quickly whipped me into shape. More than just eating healthy, her family taught me what it’s like to have faith in God in any circumstance. Without going into details about the turmoil in Venezuela, just know it has affected her family so personally that many times, they don’t know what the next step God has for them is. Regardless, they have remained calm, patient, and faithful, knowing that God will provide. These same qualities are instilled in Estefanie, in her faith and selflessness. This selflessness has played out consistently in our relationship as I’ve been pursuing my dreams at the University of Virginia. Over the past two years, we’ve seen each other a limited amount, but talked every day. Much like on the plane back from London, we still watch Netflix movies at the same time on FaceTime. She continues to support and challenge me as I pursue my dream. But it’s not these supportive qualities that I love the most about Estefanie. She is so driven and strong and I realize that she doesn’t really need me. In two years at her job, she has become a valuable member of the team. She’s not afraid to share her ideas with the leadership and works hard to solve problems – a trait she learned while battling through some difficult immigration processes.

After finally figuring out my career path, I knew it was time to go ahead and secure my relationship with this girl. So in the fall of my second year of law school, I went to the local jewelry store and picked out the perfect ring for the perfect girl. I also prepared a grandiose proposal video for Estefanie to “Marry Me” by Jason Derulo. I did some classic Griffin dance moves and collected videos from our friends and family convincing her to say yes. I knew her family would be in Little Rock over Christmas, so it would be a perfect time to pop the question. On January 5, 2019, I shared with her the video, prompting her to come to the Old Mill because I had a question to ask her (at this point, she knew what it was). She walked down the pathway, looking gorgeous, I read her a Bible passage, popped the question and then she said yes. Estefanie is not like most girls. She’s been through difficult times, she’s resourceful, highly intelligent, and righteous. I will never get over how lucky I am to have her in my life and look forward to the time we share in a lifetime of marriage. We are waiting until I finish law school and take the bar exam to get married. Since we got engaged, we have continued to grow our relationship and we are excited to share our special day with y’all.