Tyler and I met like many people do these days... on an app. I had been using the dating app Hinge for a few months and hadn't had much luck. I was planning to delete it and take some time off when Tyler messaged me. We hit it off right away, bonding over our shared love of "The Office", being out in nature and our strong foundation in faith. However, as anyone who has used a dating app knows, it's tricky to tell if the connection will be the same in person, so naturally I had double booked my weekend - getting dinner and drinks with Tyler on Friday, and coffee with a different guy on Sunday. Needless to say, our first date was perfect and I promptly canceled the Sunday coffee date as soon as I got home! Tyler and I planned a date for almost every day of the week after that and we've been inseparable ever since.

We knew pretty early on that we had found our match, so we started talking about getting married after 2 years of dating. But when the pandemic hit and we didn't want to kill each other after a year of lockdown, we knew it was time to make it official! The following summer while on a family beach trip, Tyler got down on one knee during a sunrise walk in the quite marshlands of Huntington Beach State Park. I of course said "YES!" and we both laughed as Tyler tried to get the ring on my finger, knuckle swollen with not one, but two bug bites from the night before! It eventually slipped on, and when we got back to the beach house the whole family was waiting with champagne and donuts! It was absolutely beautiful. We are so excited to get married and we can't wait for you to join us in celebrating the start of our life as Mr. & Mrs. Watkins!