It all started when we both decided Austin, Texas was the place to be to launch our adult lives – Connor for a master’s degree program in mechanical engineering at UT Austin and Emily for her first full-time job after college and a year serving with AmeriCorps in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In the summer of 2019, we both moved in with roommates who were complete strangers, started our new roles, and downloaded the dating app Hinge. Emily mentioned on her profile how she had lived in a national park for a year and enjoyed puns, and Connor won her over by asking “what were some of the national perks?” of living in the Smokies.
The two of us got to know each other over dates filled with trying tofu, hiking the Barton Creek Greenbelt, and going roller skating on Halloween. Emily knew she had a catch when Connor came to her roommate Gabby’s birthday party and stayed after everyone else had left to help us all wash the dishes. Connor came to Emily’s work holiday party and had to describe himself as her “…friend” since we hadn’t used defined terms before, so we made our relationship official right after that. In the early stages of our relationship, we traveled around Texas, visited each other’s hometowns and families, and simply got through the pandemic, thanks in large part to our roommates and dear friends in Austin.
When Connor finished his degree in the summer of 2021, we were ready to get more serious about our relationship, so when he accepted a job offer in Minneapolis, Emily made plans to move up with him. Then we adopted our two precious babies, Echo and Whisky, less than a month after Emily moved up : ) As we made a home and really started our lives together, our days were filled with lots of home cooking, biking around the city, hosting friends, and introducing Emily to Minnesota more, including how to deal with real winter.
In early 2023, we decided we were ready to get engaged, so we started planning proposals for each other. Emily got to Connor first with a custom crossword puzzle commissioned from a New York Times crossword creator after a day doing Connor’s favorite things around Minneapolis, and we celebrated at our neighborhood speakeasy after he said “yes”. Connor proposed a few days later with a prototype of a ring he designed for Emily during a hike along the banks of the Mississippi River. We announced our engagement to both of our families during a trip Emily’s family made up to Minnesota from Tennessee, and it was so special to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter with two families that are usually 1,000 miles apart.
We’ve been planning this wedding since June 2023 and can’t wait to celebrate with you! Thank you for being a part of our lives and we’re excited to see you on our big day.