We are so excited to celebrate our love with all of you! We will be having an intimate destination wedding followed by a "Happily Ever After Party" when we return home.

This love story is all thanks to the parents of the bride and groom being best friends since 1999 - Kristen was 3 years old and Sam was 8! About 18 years of friendship later, on October 10, 2016, Sam asked Kristen to be his girlfriend!

First thing in the morning, Sam said his wisdom tooth was hurting so I gave him an Advil and said there would be no complaining on “my day” referring to my graduation with my Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Appalachian State University! (Little did I know!) We proceeded to get ready and leave for Boone. My parents, Brooke (maid of honor), and Sam all attended my hooding ceremony at 10:15 AM followed by an intimate lunch before my 1 pm graduation ceremony. Matthew, Rachel, and Hadyn joined them in the crowd there. My classmate, Alyssa, asked me during the ceremony when Sam was going to propose- I said if he doesn’t do it at the graduation party this weekend then it would probably be this summer at our family beach trip to Ocean Isle! After graduation, we went to Grandfather Vineyard to celebrate with live music and wine! While we were sitting around talking, I said “I love it here, it makes my heart so happy!” (Little did I know x2!) We hung out for a while and then I stood up to take pictures with Matthew, Rachel, and Hadyn in my regalia since we did not get any pictures together after the ceremony. After they were stepping away, Sam said “I want to take one with you” and before I turned around to take one with him, Brooke took my cap off, and I said "Wait Sam wants one!" and she said "Take it without the regalia, y’all got one with it earlier!" (Shoutout Brooke for not letting me get engaged in a cap and gown!) So I took off the regalia and when I turned around Sam was ON ONE KNEE!!! He said "Will you marry me?" and I stood there in shock for a minute and then said "YES!!!" He stood up, we hugged, kissed, and I forgot there was even a ring involved until he took the ring out of the box and asked which finger to put it on! We celebrated, took more pictures, a nice guest at the vineyard bought us a bottle of champagne followed by more gifts from our family. Sam and I drove home to a sweet surprise from Paiton and Ethan - they decorated our house with rose petals, photos of us, and more! We then went to my parents house to celebrate with Evan, Mary Grace, Mariana, and Daphne! On May 7th, We were able to tell many of our friends and family in person at my graduation celebration! BEST. WEEKEND. EVER!