John and Emilee were first introduced at an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party in 2016, where John skillfully managed to pop his head into Emilee's double-necked sweater! He must have had his eye on her back then :) Fast forward a couple months- the two were brought together again, this time by their friends, at a bowling party in Baltimore. Emilee and John quickly hit it off and bonded over some friendly competition. Being the competitive people that they are, neither one of them admitted to defeat (Emilee won). The very next day, John contacted Emilee to plan their first date, and the rest is history.

While vacationing in Topsail, North Carolina, John asked Emilee to go for a walk on the beach. She didn't think anything of it, because walking on the beach is a normal occurrence for them! Once they started walking, she noticed that John had music playing in his pocket--all of her favorite love songs! Still, she was oblivious. Then John started saying a million nice things about Emilee, and slowed his walking pace to that of a turtle. It was at this moment that Emilee started to think...maybe this is it?! And it was, because he grabbed her hand and dropped to one knee, holding out the most beautiful ring. Emilee says she blacked out and cried, keeping John on one knee in the sand for quite some time! Johns sister, Gabrielle, got the whole thing on video, and the two were greeted back at the house with champagne toasts.