How We Met
After my freshman year of college, I came home for the summer looking forward to laid-back summer with friends. In doing so, I went to a party at Butler University with a couple friends from high school. They quickly introduced me to their Butler friends – one being Matt. We hit it off instantly and ended up spending the rest of the evening getting to know each other. After an interruption from Matt’s ex-girlfriend, I immediately thought the connection was ending. However, Matt somehow charmed me into a date the following week. We had a good time, but both agreed we would keep things casual & only stay in touch for the summer.
Before we knew it, summer was ending and it was time for me to make the 10-hour trip back to Nebraska. In efforts to keep our relationship going, Matt took a play from the Jim Halpert playbook and made me a video recounting the great summer we had together. Over a romantic date night, Matt convinced me that a long distance relationship was worth staying together. The more I fell for Matt, the more I wanted the long distance to end, so I decided to work extra hard the next two years and graduate from college a year early. All the sacrifices we had made over the years proved to be worth it.
how they asked
Me and a few friends had made plans to get together for a Saturday lunch. While walking to the restaurant someone recommended we stop at our favorite winery for a quick glass of wine. We chatted with the bartender, ordered our wine and headed out to the patio to enjoy the unseasonably cool weather for September 2nd. As we walked outside, I noticed Matt sitting at a table, in the otherwise empty patio. My first impression was confusion and a bit of annoyance because he was crashing our girls day. My friends explained that the whole day had been planned by Matt in an attempt to surprise me with a picnic. (Many of our dates over the years were picnics). I began to catch on when my friends told me they would not be joining the two of us.
As we sat there sipping our wine, I noticed someone with a camera hiding behind a nearby wall. This confirmed my suspicions. Matt popped the question and I gleefully said yes! Shortly after, Matt said that the proposal was not the only surprise & out walked one of my best friends from college, who happens to be a photographer. I went to school in Nebraska, 10 hours away, so this was a very big surprise. Arguably a bigger surprise than the proposal! After taking many more photos, he said he had to catch his flight home and left.
Matt and I continued our picnic while calling friends and family to share our good news. After talking with my parents, we decided to head to another winery nearby to celebrate with them. From the parking lot, I saw my parents sitting on the patio. As we got closer, I noticed Matt’s parents and was delighted to see they had decided to join us, as well. As I was giving them all hugs and filling them in about the excitement of the proposal, more of my friends from college snuck up behind me. Matt had invited all of our friends and family to the winery and flew in 5 more of my friends from college. We drank wine and celebrated the happy day! I cannot imagine it being any more perfect!
