The story begins on January 14th, 2023 in Tampa, FL when both Hudson and Courtney attended a wedding for their friends. Not knowing each other, they were nudged to meet up at the reception by the bride and groom and their friends (shout out to the Alexanders & the Revords!!). The two met, and danced the night away. Hudson walked Courtney to her car that night, they exchanged numbers, and agreed they'd like to get to know each other more. With the two living in different states, they spent many hours on countless phone calls and Facetime dates in the weeks to follow, slowly becoming more entranced by one another. On February 3rd, Courtney flew to Nashville for a previously planned personal retreat, but of course made time for dates with Hudson before and after the retreat. It only took a few days after those in-person dates for Hudson to ask Courtney to be his girlfriend over the phone. The answer was a resounding "yes"! In the months to follow, they spent a lot of their evenings sharing their life with each other via phone calls, and taking turns flying to each other for weekends together. The two were surely falling more deeply for each other with each given day. By the time April rolled around, they were so excited to celebrate Hudson's brother and now, sister-in-law, in Lawrenceville, GA for their wedding. After Courtney met all of Hudson's family and they enjoyed a lovely weekend together, the two agreed that they knew they had found their person, and many "I love you"s were shared. After a few more months of long-distance dating, Hudson had planned a 4th of July meet-up in Orange Beach, AL with some of their friends. They were very excited to see each other after being apart for 5 weeks. After a beautiful Saturday morning Mass in a stunning Catholic Church, Hudson walked Courtney to the statue of Mary. The two took a few moments of prayer together, and then Hudson turned to Courtney, expressed his affection and desire for her, and got down on his knee to make the big ask. The answer was quite literally, "yes! a million times, yes!". They kissed, hugged, and shared in the joy with their friends who were waiting outside to celebrate. Hudson also surprised Courtney with a brunch with her family and their friends after the proposal. It was simply a beautiful, joyous, and perfect morning. The two shared the remainder of the weekend basking in the joy of being engaged, having found their person, and being excited for the opportunity to prepare their hearts to receive one another fully in the Sacrament of marriage. We know that without the Lord, our story would not have been possible and we are grateful to God for His grace, mercy, and Providence which brought us together. We look forward to all that lies ahead, and especially getting to celebrate our big day with you very soon.