The happy couple’s first date was at Hi-Wire, a brewery in Asheville, NC. Kaitlyn was a senior at Florida State completing an internship with Biltmore & Xavier was working at a private practice, completing the externship portion of his audiology doctorate. If you’re not familiar with Asheville it’s a beer-centric, hospitality driven, little hippy town in the mountains of western North Carolina. The two were both new to the area, Kaitlyn knew no-one and decided to roll the dice on...Tinder (yes, they really met on Tinder #TinderSuccessStory). After a fateful “swipe right” they chatted for a day or so, Xavier was charming enough and Kaitlyn, in typical fashion, responded about a week after the initial message. A date had been set to move their conversation from a series of half ignored messages with days in between responses to vintage, in-person human interaction (woah.) Kaitlyn was honestly surprised that Xavier remained adamant and interested after being blatantly ignored; but, I digress. Kaitlyn had never been on an online date and was extremely precarious; so, she made an excuse to be a little late and Xavier graciously obliged. That a little late turned into (legitimately) two hours of Kaitlyn building up the courage to walk through the doors. Shockingly enough Xavier was still there waiting, beer in hand. They had themselves a night, talking for hours, and their relationship started to blossom with many dates to follow. When Kaitlyn returned to Florida State in the spring, countless trips were made to and from Tallahassee as they decided to give long distance the “ole college try.” After graduation, Kaitlyn accepted a job in Louisville and shortly after moved to Brooklyn, Xavier decided to follow. The movement didn’t end there, Kailtlyn relocated to Nashville, then Asheville, then Chattanooga and Xavier back to Asheville. With time, sacrifice, trust, and each other's support, the physical distance shrank and grew; however, the two had never been closer.

Kaitlyn and Xaiver's story has spanned across five states traversed by planes, trains, and automobiles back to each other’s arms. Through thick and thin, distance nor circumstance has kept them apart for longer than a heartbeat. Five years later, at Hi-Wire Brewery, they were engaged in the place it all began. Kaitlyn was late, again; Xavier waited, again...and a massive group of Ohio State fraternity brothers cheered them on as they promised to be together for an eternity.