It was an instant connection, the conversation easily flowed, and they soon discovered how much they had in common. There was a particular discussion when they first met, about a scenic overlook of Rochester at a nearby nature park, that really stuck out. This is because soon after they met, Chad made the "official" first move by "liking" one of Ashley's pictures on Facebook that showed her in that exact spot. Naturally, Ashley took that as a "hey, talk to me!" and sent a quick "LOL that you liked the picture we talked about yesterday"... sarcasm in true Ashley fashion. HA! Despite Ashley's sass and sarcasm, Chad asked her on an official first date to take place a couple days later. It consisted of all the awkwardness and shy smiles you could imagine, including Chad tripping over a curb, and narrowly missing falling on his face. Honestly, the day was absolutely perfect and both Chad & Ashley knew that the other was going to be an incredibly important person in their lives, they just weren't exactly sure how at that point. All it took was a warm, sunny, summer day in Lake City overlooking the Mississippi River for love to blossom (part of why they wanted to be sure The River had some role in the backdrop of their wedding). The rest of the summer was spent exploring different parks and areas of Minnesota and hiking. Chad and Ashley joke that by their 3rd date "Ashley just never went home" because merging their lives together just felt so incredibly easy and normal. Read on for our proposal story.

In Sept of 2019 while away on their first weekend trip together to Chicago, Chad had already started planning Ashley's birthday getaway to Duluth in December. At that point, he knew he wanted the get away to be special, but hadn't solidified that he wanted to get engaged there. Come November, Chad and Ashley spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Wisconsin with her family. Chad sneakily utilized the sales to buy Ashley her perfect rose gold diamond ring. Soon, they made it to Duluth to their suite at Beacon Pointe, right on Lake Superior. They walked up the stairs and looked through the panoramic windows showing Lake Superior, the harbor, and the draw bridge at sunset. It was breath taking. Ashley jokes about the fact Chad didn't propose right then! The next day, Ash's birthday, Chad wanted to head up the North Shore to Split Rock Lighthouse & Gooseberry Falls. They get to the lighthouse but there's several other people there and he wanted the proposal to be just the two of them. Plan dashed...they drove a little south of the Lighthouse where Chad remembered he saw a pull off for a scenic overlook to view the beach and the lighthouse from a distance. No one was there except them, the sounds of the ice and waves hitting the shoreline, and the perfect view of the lighthouse. Many selfies were taken, but Chad wanted one from a distance, or so Ashley thought. Chad actually set up the video to record on his phone. He started to nervously talk about how much he loved Ashley. Repeatedly saying "I love you so much" because he was so nervous! Finally, he dropped to one knee & pulled out a ring, and barely got out "Ashley will you..." before she was saying "yes!" He eventually was able to fully ask "Ashley, will you marry me" and was met with another "yes of course! I love you!" and carefully without dropping the ring in the snow because their fingers were frozen from the -9 degree weather, he excitedly placed the ring on Ashley's finger. From there...the rest is history!