Today’s post is a special one!! I can’t believe that I’ve never shared the story of how Dylan & I met, but since today is the 7 year anniversary of that day, I figured it was the PERFECT time to share our story!! As I tell my couples all the time, God’s timing is perfect & he writes the BEST stories!!

Dylan & I went to college together, but it wasn’t until the spring of my junior year/his sophomore year that we officially met! (side note: We actually realized after we met that we had had a class together the year before, but considering it was an 8am class, & he sat in the front & I sat in the back, it’s no surprise that we hadn’t met or had a conversation — 8am classes were the WORST, right?)

So back to the spring of 2013, it was Spring Fever week on campus, which meant there was a fun activity or event to attend every night! I was one of the student photographers on campus, so I was busy running around everywhere that week. The biggest event of the week was the annual Spring Fever Concert, & this year, our school had booked the reigning winner of American Idol, Phillip Phillips, so I was SO excited to get to take pictures of the show. At some point that night, I ran over to where my twin sister, Kelsey, was sitting with some of her friends, & that’s when she introduced me to Dylan. All I remember thinking was “this guy is very tall” (Dyl is 6’4” haha!) 

After the concert, Kelsey told me they were all going to Taco Bell (our college town didn’t have a ton of options), so I decided to join them. I don’t remember much but Dyl says that we sat across from each other & talked some. In the weeks after that, we ended up hanging out with that group of friends – watching the NBA finals, going to the movies, & studying for exams. I honestly thought Dyl & I would just be good friends, but obviously, the Lord had other plans for us! That summer, my twin & I decided to go visit Dyl & our friend Jamie where they lived near Memphis, TN. At some point that weekend, I ended up just asking Dyl “so do you like me or what?” (clearly I have zero problem being bold haha!) and the rest is history! We started dating later that summer on July 22, 2013. 

Dyl proposed on December 5, 2014, & I had NO IDEA it was happening! It’s usually pretty difficult to surprise me, but Dyl has always been very successful at it! We had plans to go to dinner on a Friday night with my twin & one of our guy friends, Rowan. Around noon that day, I was texting Kelsey to see what she was planning to wear, & as usual, I told her I did not want to dress up! She acted annoyed by it, saying she wanted to dress cute so I needed to also (this is very common for us to argue about ha!) So finally I decided to wear something that wasn’t sweatpants & a t-shirt – thank goodness.

Dyl had told me he needed to run by this house in Madison, MS where a Christmas party was going to be held for the church staff he was working with at the time. He said he was in charge of setting up some lights, so he said he needed to run by there to talk to the lady that owns the house. I seriously thought nothing of it UNTIL we got there & had to just “wait around” for the lady! I actually didn’t even want to get out of the car, but Dyl made me thankfully, & walked me over to this random bench (or random so I thought).

We were just sitting there, & I started getting really nervous all of a sudden. Then he started saying how much he loved me! (I have NO idea what he was actually saying but I assume he said he loved me), then he got down on one knee. Apparently all I kept saying was “oh my gosh oh my gosh what is happening?!”) I obviously said yes at some point, & that’s when our friend Chase Richardson came out from behind a bush where he’d been taking photos (of course Dyl had gotten a photographer) I seriously could not stop smiling & semi-freaking out! (if you know me, you are not surprised by this) 

He then told me that of course the dinner plans were not real, so he took me to Babalu (one of my favorite restaurants) to celebrate. Neither of us could eat anything because we were so excited! On the way there I insisted on calling my mom & twin! After dinner, we drove to my house to see my family, but to my surprise, ALL of my family, Dyl’s family, & our friends were there to celebrate with us. Our families had worked so hard to plan a party just for us! Dyl’s parents had been in town for a couple of days & I had no idea, & then his grandparents, aunt & uncle, & cousins walked in to surprise both of us – they all had driven from Memphis to be there! It was the sweetest night!!

Our wedding day was November 7, 2015 – and it was the best day ever! I’ll have to do another post all about our wedding day, but I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos here. It rained the entire day, but that didn’t even phase us as we were just so excited & God’s presence was so evident all day! We will celebrate 5 years of marriage this year, & I’m so thankful that God allowed me to marry my best friend. We’ve been through a lot in these 5 years of marriage, but I know the journey has only just begun! (wedding photos by the amazing Robby Followell of Followell Fotography)

Here’s a few photos of some of my favorite memories during these past (almost) 5 years of marriage!!