Brittani and Zach have many of the same friends in the St. Louis area. In 2019 they briefly exchanged "Hellos" as Britt was leaving a workout class with one of her best friends, Allison Richter, who Zach knew. A few years later Zach would ask Brian Richter (Allison's husband) to put in a good word for him with Britt just about every time he ran into him at the gym. Brian and Allison called Britt on speaker phone many times telling her all the reasons her and Zach would be a great match. Over Super Bowl weekend 2022 Britt and Zach were on the same flight to Denver. Britt was on their annual Kolb/Cooper Family ski trip and Zach was on his way to a ski trip with friends. They talked the whole way to baggage claim. (Little did they both know that Zach would be joining that same family ski trip less than a year later.) Fast forward to July of 2022, Britt and Zach were "Finally" on a texting basis at this point, it was mostly Zach texting as Brittani wasn't the best at responding. Britt and Zach's good friends Lauren and Mike were getting married and Lauren held a bridal shower. Brittani was the only one at the shower who didn't know not only that Zach and Mike good friends but that Zach had everyone in on his grand plan to help him land his first night out with Britt. The girls just had to convince Britt to go out after the shower, and Zach's friend Monica was able to do it. Zach and some friends met the girls at Tamm Ave Bar. They ended up bar hopping, dancing, drinking terrible redbull vodkas and hitting the casino until about 4 am when they went home (separately)! About a week later, in early August they went on their first date. 11 days later they went on their second date, oddly enough both dates comprised of ice cream (Britt's favorite). The final date was a "wild hare" trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton's National Parks. 5 days of plane rides, car rides, hotels, amazing hikes, fishing, sunsets, beautiful animals and getting to know each other. The rest is history.

It's hard to surprise Britt, she's a thinker. With a little help from Britt's mom, sisters and the Kolb family, she was unsuspecting of this wonderful evening. One of Brittani's favorite things to do is shoot guns and fireworks off a bluff overlooking the Missouri river. With Britt being an avid planner, a few weeks prior her mom let her know of the plan. We'd go to Frankie Martin's Garden and then to the Kolb's bluff for some fun, she'd least suspect it! The day of didn't start off so great, as Zach was traveling back from New York and his flight was delayed. He said some prayers and made it back a few hours before! A few of Zach's family members also joined in on the nail-biting evening. It was a hot and humid St. Louis day, nothing new for us in the area. We all got to Frankie Martin's around 5pm and enjoyed some whiskey, food trucks, dancing and great live music. Some storm clouds rolled in around 7:30 so we decided to rush to the bluff! Britt was adamant that she was first up for shooting, "sure go ahead Britt". Surprisingly, she didn't know something was up as there was 20 people behind her with phones out looking like the paparazzi...she was in heaven. Zach recently taught Britt how to saber Champagne, there happened to be some “random” Champagne and a saber, “here Britt open this”. Her back was turned away from the crowd as Zach sneakily got down on ONE knee. She turned around and didn't think anything of it until Zach presented her a ring. Zach asked, "Brittani Corren Cooper will you marry me?". Zach was a little taken back by Brittani's answer, "are you sure?". "Yes, Brittani I'm sure. Will you marry me?". He finally got the answer he was looking for "Of course!". Zach knew it wouldn't be the best night ever for Britt without some fireworks! As darkness crept in we all headed back to the Kolb's for some final celebratory drinks and pictures. Zach's last surprise for Britt was a heart shaped pizza from Imo's that said "Is this too cheesy? Will you marry me?". The night was complete, what a day! We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in St. Louis for an NYE party!