Tyler & Opal

Tyler and I met in our “Introduction to Music Education” class in our first semester at IUP. I was a voice major and Tyler was a tuba major. We were introduced to one another by my Maid of Honor, Dureena Pierce. Dureena is one of my closest friends from high school, who also happened to be in the tuba studio with Tyler at IUP. Tyler and I became friends quickly through the classes we had together and countless hours spent talking in Cogswell’s student lounge. We began dating in the fall semester of our sophomore year, and have been together ever since! We’ve been through so much throughout the years we’ve spent together like our first days at IUP, supporting each other through our online studies during the pandemic, my venture into the marching band world, student teaching, college graduation, our first teaching jobs, and now we’re embarking on marriage!

About a month after our graduation from IUP, Tyler’s family took us on a trip to Disney World to celebrate! After spending a day in the parks, Tyler had an evening date planned for the two of us. The night began with us getting dressed up to go to dinner at Steakhouse 71. The restaurant’s atmosphere was wonderful and the meal was delicious! After our meal, we made our way to Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks. After the show was over and people started to clear out, Tyler asked someone to take a picture of us in front of the castle. He came to my side for the picture, got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him! I obviously said yes and the crowd around us broke into applause! Our wedding will be exactly 3 years from this magical day! We are so excited to have you join us on our special day!