Believe it or not, Emily and Casey first met on the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam. Casey was on a walking tour when he spotted Emily’s Aunt Jane across the street. Casey knew Jane from his time working for Edward Jones in the East Bay Area 10 years prior. Coincidentally, Casey and Jane had selected the same Edward Jones travel award trip and Jane brought Emily as her guest. It was extremely brief, but within the hustle and bustle of that busy Hanoi street Casey and Emily met. Due to differing travel schedules, Casey and Emily weren’t able to spend any time together in Hanoi. Although Emily doesn’t necessarily believe him, Casey swears he spent a couple restless nights on that trip thinking about what life might be like with someone like Emily. Six months later, Casey was on another Edward Jones travel award trip in Turks & Caicos enjoying breakfast with his friend Pete when surprisingly, in walks Jane & Emily. Once again, Casey and Jane had selected the same travel award trip. Emily immediately spotted Casey, and after sharing a few nervous glances, Casey and Pete made their way over to Emily and Jane to officially make an introduction. Almost immediately, Casey thought Emily was out of his league. She joked about working for RaceTrac, a petroleum company and convenience store where she sold "Cokes & smokes." He assumed she wouldn’t be interested in the boy from Northern California. As the day went on, Emily became determined to learn more about Casey. She thought he was cute, tall and his shyness intrigued her. Later that evening, everyone attended a welcome dinner on the beach and the four continued to get to know each other. Emily noticed Casey vehemently staring at her from across the table throughout the dinner. They continued the night having drinks at the hotel bar, when suddenly, Emily sat on Casey's lap leaving him completely stunned. The night ended in a kiss. The next day, Emily text her friends telling them she met her future husband. For the rest of the trip, the two spent almost every moment together and on the fourth day, Casey told Emily, "I'm going to marry you one day, Emily Rebecca Watson." On departure day, Casey proved his commitment by booking a flight to Atlanta just two weeks later. The two spent their first year dating long distance, which included lots of phone calls, thoughtful love letters, hikes, wine tastings, late night trips to Waffle House, Giants games, forcing Marley to cuddle with them, holidays and a couple more Edward Jones trips. Emily ended up moving to California for two years, before they moved to Atlanta to build their lives together.

Shortly after moving to Atlanta, Casey popped the question. Throughout their relationship, Casey has been quite the romantic; from the love letters he'd leave around Emily's apartment while she was away at work, to bringing her coffee every morning in bed and often planning surprise dates and vacations. The proposal didn't fall short of that. The day started off a typical Atlanta summer day with beautiful, clear skies. A couple hours before their scheduled dinner, Casey surprised Emily by telling her to meet him at one of their favorite sports at Piedmont Park. As it often goes in the south during the summer, an evening thunderstorm can strike at any moment. As Emily walked up to meet Casey, it started pouring. Once she approached Casey, she realized what was happening and they both started to cry. Casey handed her a letter. When she opened it, she realized the letter was written to her dad, who unexpectedly passed a couple years prior. The letter thanked him for loving Emily and asked him for his blessing. Casey got down on his knee and asked Emily to marry him. They both cried and embraced one another and of course, Emily said yes! Emily and Casey have experienced a lot together: long distance, the pandemic, three moves, traveling with a squirmy, unruly kitty on a plane, relocating Casey's business, losing Emily's dad and everything in between. Through it all, their love for one another has been unwavering. They love each other deeply, they are strongly committed to one another, they do a great job supporting each other and they make each other laugh, a lot. They often remind each other how blessed they are and are eternally grateful for how life brought them together. Our love story feels truly serendipitous! We are excited to take on life as a married couple and we are so grateful for the support and love from our friends and family. We cannot wait to celebrate this new chapter of our lives with you.