The first time Zac and Sarah met was in a nursing home (he teases her that's where he's going to leave her someday too!). In college, Sarah's sorority would regularly volunteer at a local nursing home. Zac's fraternity joined them the day of Halloween for an event where the kids from the community got to trick-or-treat at the resident's doors. Being a fireman, he took the easy way out with his costume and wore his bunkerpants and a helmet. All the volunteers were paired off and they ended up in a group together. There was a little boy around 3 or 4 years old dressed as Marshall from Paw Patrol and Zac crouched down in front of him and asked, "Marshall, right?" The little boy grinned. Zac took off his helmet and offered to trade with the little boy. They talked for a minute then everyone went on their way. Not having younger siblings, Sarah did not know what Paw Patrol was so she asked, "did you know him?" (assuming that he knew the little boy to be Marshall) to which Zac looked her like she lived under a rock. Beckett, Zac's youngest brother, was 2 at the time so Paw Patrol was a staple of life to Zac. He replied with, "no, it's Marshall, from Paw Patrol" like he was stating the sky was blue. Sarah thought the interaction between Zac and the boy was very sweet and he had caught her eye. At the end of the event, as they were leaving, she introduced herself. Back on campus, a group from the event went to a haunted house and Zac scared Sarah more than the house did by poking her or smacking the wall, just to get her to jump. He felt so bad at how scared she was that he found her on Instagram later that night and messaged her to apologize. They started talking, a few days later they hung out, and within a few weeks they were dating. Something just clicked with them. He likes to say it was fire fighter getup that got her but she still thinks it's his big heart and love for others that won her over.
They went down to Cincinnati for the weekend with their friends, Aaron and Alyssa, for a country concert for Alyssa's birthday. It was their friend's first getaway together so Alyssa suggested they all get dressed up Saturday night before dinner and take pictures down by the river. Totally unsuspecting, Sarah thought it would be fun. As Zac and Sarah stood there getting their pictures taken, and what Sarah thought was just pictures not a video, Zac pulled out a letter from his back pocket and asked her to read it. Next thing she knew, he was down on one knee! She could not have been more surprised if they had tried! It turns out he had been planning for months and half the town of Hamilton, some of the guys from the fire department, and all of their immediate family was in on it.