Allie and I “matched” and met up for a drink at a local Washington, D.C. 14th Street bar in the spring of 2019. Coming off of a few years on a submarine in Guam, it’s safe to say I was slightly intimidated by this stunning, amazing girl from Baltimore that I just met! Luckily for me, the conversation was easy, as I came to learn in the coming weeks is always the case with Allie. A meet up for drinks progressed into dinners and casual hangouts along the D.C. waterfront. About a month in to seeing each other, Allie took a leap of faith and agreed to accompany me on a weekend trip to a friend’s lake house. As we started the trip, I remember being worried about potential awkward pauses on the 3 hour drive, but we instantly connected over our shared love for classic rock and spent the whole ride singing along and laughing – it was a perfect beginning to a beautiful relationship. The summer of 2019 was a special time for both of us. We were meeting each other’s friends and families, going to Gibson Island on the weekends, and getting to know each other. If the trip to the lake house wasn’t enough, I think it was evident to my friends when I called up my buddy, Tom, a month before his wedding and asked if I could bring this new girl he had never met to his wedding. For being a month out from his wedding, Tom was surprisingly chill about the change to his seating arrangement – an unusual characteristic for anyone who knows him! He did say, I just hope this Allie is someone we will be seeing for awhile because she’s going to be sitting across from the bride! It’s safe to say things turned out pretty great. The next year was spent building on our strong foundation by introducing our families, going on family trips, and even spending a joint holiday with both sets of families and grandparents at Christyn and Gerrit’s house in Washington, D.C. By the summer of 2020, I knew I wanted to ask Allie to be my wife and build a life together but needed the perfect moment.

That moment came on a trip to Hawaii in 2021 as we were celebrating Allie’s new job and my upcoming departure from the Navy and beginning of business school. To this day Allie claims she had no idea something big was planned prior to the trip, but that illusion evaporated quickly as I was acting, as she says, “a little off” on our first day. Hard to not be “a little off” flying with an engagement ring halfway across the Pacific Ocean! So, I made sure not to delay and asked Allie on a beach in Maui on our first night if she would be my wife… she said yes! We spent the next week having so much fun celebrating, trying new things like surfing, and Facetiming everyone we know. It was the best trip of our lives. When we got back to D.C., we quickly booked a wedding date at Gibson Island, a place of so many memories for us and where we had always hoped to get married. In the months since our engagement in May of 2021, we moved to a new city, began new jobs, and met new friends, all while planning a wedding. (Granted, Allie and her mom, Karen, have done the lion’s share of this last one!) We are so excited to become husband and wife and for you all to be a part of it on September 10th!