We have known each other since we started middle school together in 2008, more than half our lives. While the story of our romance didn’t begin until much later—after college, the pandemic, and plenty of life—our lives had been intertwined for a long time. We were born in Rex Hospital just 20 days apart in Raleigh, North Carolina. In school we were not friends, but acquaintances. We passed each other in hallways and shared classes, not knowing that one day we would be planning a wedding and building a life together. It’s safe to say we wouldn’t have gotten along back then. Emma had always been the ultimate rule follower and people pleaser, while Sam spent more time kicked out of classes than sitting in them, forever the class clown. Emma the senior class president, Sam just happy to walk the stage with a college acceptance letter. We each went off to college, Sam to Appalachian State University in Boone, Emma to Davidson College just outside Charlotte. Emma finished her degree in Anthropology and stayed in town, working at Davidson for a few years. Sam finished his degree in Geography and moved to Charlotte for his master’s degree to further his studies. Little did we know that we were, again, so close to each other. For some reason that we may never fully understand but are eternally grateful for, the pandemic and a couple of bad breakups pushed us to Asheville, NC, in the summer of 2022. We each independently needed some mountain air to clear our heads from what had been a stressful time in our lives. It was a fortunate swipe on Hinge that ultimately brought us together. We didn’t think it would be anything but a friendly beer when we went on our first date, but it was clear from the moment we met that we had finally been brought together again at the right time. We spent a year or so in Asheville, enjoying the beer and music of Southern Appalachia. We even traveled across the Atlantic to hike the south coast of England. Eventually though, we took our lives onto the road with our cats, Theodore and Salem, to explore the US on a road trip we had always dreamed of. Our travels took us over 11,000 miles and to 26 states. We saw some of the most beautiful places in the country, and our plan was to land wherever Emma got a job. It was halfway through our trip, in a tiny apartment in Fort Collins, Colorado, that Sleepy Hollow Inn took a chance on Emma. We finished our trip, dipped our feet in the Pacific Ocean, and drove back across the country to our new home. In March of 2025, while hiking the Southwest Coast Path across England’s southernmost point, Sam proposed to Emma on a wet and cloudy day atop Weston Cliff. Everyone knew what Sam had been planning for months in advance, besides Emma. We celebrated with Sam’s family in England before coming home to our friends and family in the US. Since then, we have begun the wedding planning process and found the perfect place to celebrate with our loved ones. We are so happy to call Vermont our home now, and we are even more excited to show all of our closest friends and family this place we have landed. While you’re here you’ll see Richmond, Huntington, and Burlington, among others; cities filled with amazing people and views of the Green Mountains. You’ll see Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield, the mountains standing guard over Lake Champlain and the greater Champlain Valley. With any luck, you’ll get a taste of this extremely unique place and understand why we have landed here and chosen it as the place where our marriage will start. We are ecstatic for June 2026 and all the years to come, and most of all, we are excited to share it with you. – Emma and Sam (and Theodore and Salem)