HOW WE MET:

Amber and I go back many, many years. We grew up in the same city, we’re both Grassfield Grizzly alumni and are even proud Virginia Tech Hokies. While we love to joke that we could’ve had the cute high school sweet heart story - we unfortunately don’t. But as two people that have quite different personalities, it’s probably for the best the world seemed to wait to finally bring us together.

During our high school and college days we were nothing more than a “hey” or “hi” and quick glance, yet we always seemed to be around just never in the same picture. It took us finally both graduating, returning home and go figure connecting at our local gym to start “talking”.

One weekend out and a little pressure from both our maid of honor (Taylor) and best man (Dylan), we hit it off! This particular weekend was a Christmas themed bar crawl, I knew at that point that if Amber had any interest in me in a Santa Claus onesie I had a chance with her. One sushi/hibachi (both our favorites) date later and we were pretty much inseparable from that point on.

OVER THE YEARS:

Just under a year into our relationship I decided to join the Navy and make things REAL fun. As you can probably assume this lead to a lot of things Amber and I weren’t used to. First and foremost distance. We went from living a few miles apart and seeing each other daily to being states away in the matter of a day.

I’m not here to insert the cliche “distance makes the heart grow fonder” quote because that sh*t sucks! But what it did do for us is allow us to grow into the people we needed to become to make happily ever after an actual reality. During this time I’ve gotten to see Amber become a literal self made superstar. To me she’s the actual embodiment of what it means to be the hardest working person in the room.

Almost perfectly, our wedding date has lined up with an opportunity for me to take my career home and be with her and both our families. And while the last few years haven’t been easy, we both know there isn’t a day moving forward we’ll take for granted to have each other.

THE PROPOSAL:

Aka the most stressful day of my life in Hawaii. As you expect the how will I hide this ring, what will I say in the moment and how does my hair look thoughts were all there. Add in Na Pali Coast snorkeling, a dangerous waterfall hike and the world’s biggest daredevil (Amber)… it made for a nerve racking day to get us both to the proposal spot in one piece. Also, did I mention the island of Kauai is considered one of the rainiest places on earth?

You wouldn’t have made it this far into the story if things didn’t go as planned. “One day closer to forever” was something we both told each other while apart and that day it became real. Amber and I both got to spend that next week engaged in what’s now our favorite place on earth making some of the best memories we have.

TO OUR GUESTS:

We both can’t thank you enough for wanting to be a part of our wedding day. Each of you reading this means something special to us in a different way. With that being said, let’s get married!

A&D

Wedding Day

Ceremony

Reception