In March of 2014, Katie was visiting one of her best friends over spring break in Worcester, MA. Katie's friend Abby invited one of her friends over who invited his roommate who in turn invited his friend who was visiting him that weekend as well. That friend was Wesley. Katie and Wesley hit it off, but would go about a year before they talked much again. On Katie's 21st birthday, she stood on a metro platform in Washington, DC and she messaged Wesley. They've been inseparable ever since. Wesley was living in Florida at this point, while Katie was finishing up college in Indiana. They spent 1 year and 11 months dating long distance, flying between Florida and Indiana as much as they could. In July of 2017, they moved into an apartment together in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Eventually they would go on to buy a house and adopt a dog, in addition to their bearded dragon.

Martha's Vineyard has always held a special place in Katie's heart - her family has been visiting every summer since she was three weeks old. Wesley has been coming to the Vineyard with Katie's family for as long as they've been together. They've even made a few weekend trips over. That brings us to the Gay Head Lighthouse. Wesley has always liked the lighthouse and Katie even used to volunteer there with her grandma when she was young. Katie and Wes have visited the lighthouse many times over the course of their relationship. Katie, Wesley and her parents were going to spend a week on the Vineyard in August of 2023. Katie's mom texted about a week before the trip to say she wanted to take some nice photos to give as gifts for Christmas. On the second day of the trip, Katie's parents decided that it was a good idea to go up to the lighthouse to take the pictures. It had been raining, so Katie was less than thrilled. However, Katie and Wesley both dressed up and headed to the lighthouse. Cute pictures were taken and Katie said it was time to go, but Wesley insisted on going up into the lighthouse before they left. They headed up into the lighthouse and as soon as they stepped onto the viewing deck, Wesley got down on one knee and proposed to Katie. Many tears were shed.