Meet us in Maryland!

For those of you who don't know, we met on a spring break cruise in 2018. Funny enough, many of our friends on that cruise would come to be a part of our bridal party on our wedding day! Shoutout to Emily, JD, JL, and Taylor for being there with us from the start! The moment we met was when Val and her best friend Emily (bridesmaid) and Sam and his best friend JD (groomsman) were placed right across the hall from each other on the cruise. It was fate. JD popped his head out the door and introduced himself and Sam and we discovered that we all were a part of the big Clemson group on board. We continued to run into one another and spend time together as a group on the cruise, starting with the obligatory cruise fire drill, then at the piano bar, and of course ending our nights at the Irish pub on board that we nicknamed "O' Shaq Hennessy's." One day on the cruise, Val and Sam figured out they were both going to be in Italy at the same time that summer. Well, they ended up meeting up for a day in Florence and Val met Sam's parents and brother, William (best man), for the first time. It was iconic. They officially became "boyfriend and girlfriend" in Italy after a man asked if Val was Sam's sister. He replied "No, she's my girlfriend"... Val was too stunned to speak. As if the last 2 months spending everyday together in Clemson wasn't enough to confirm they were dating... The rest was history. On Sam's first trip to Maryland he was put to the test with Val's big, Italian family. He attended Nana and Grandpa's 60th anniversary celebration where all 21 cousins, aunts, and uncles gathered for a big family picture. He helped out with the photography. It's still a picture to this day Val uses to quiz Sam on all the cousins' names... He gets them 100% right every time, of course... After the cruise, Val and Sam's relationship continued to flourish. Many sorority and fraternity date functions together, the merging of friend groups, game day mornings spent at Val's apartment for "pancakes and mimosas," a trip to the national championship in California (natty champs baby!), nights at the "Press box" (Sam, JD, and Taylor's college house), and a spring break Key West trip to finish up our time together at Clemson. After graduation, we did 3 years of long distance which made our relationship even stronger. Val went to the UF for PA school and Sam went to UGA for Vet school. Through the challenging years of graduate school and long distance we made many trips between Gainesville and Athens whenever we got the chance. After PA school, Val moved to Athens as Sam finished up his Vet school years. They enjoyed exploring the restaurant scene in Athens together and spending time with Sam's Vet school friends when they got a chance between busy clinic schedules. After Sam's vet school graduation, we planned a big Europe trip to France and Italy to celebrate. In France, Sam secretly rented out a castle for the night called "The Chateau de Val" (I'm serious, look it up) where he proposed. He popped the question the next morning while we were drinking our morning coffee on the porch of the castle overlooking the water. Now, we live in Charleston together with our pup, Luna, who is the light of our lives. We are enjoying being in our careers. Sam is a small animal Veterinarian and Val is a dermatology PA. I'm sure y'all already know that, though, because you have all texted us vet or derm questions at least once lol. We enjoy being close to the beach and exploring the food scene in the town that Sam grew up in! 8 years later (almost to the exact day when we became officially bf and gf in Italy), and we are so excited for May 16th to start our lives together as husband and wife! As many of you know, Val grew up right outside of Annapolis in Severna Park, MD. We are so excited to get to show you where she grew up and can't wait to have all of our loved ones in the same place. Get ready for some crab cakes. See you in Maryland!!