Our love story as told by our different perspectives
A handsome mustache young boy met a curly headed blonde girl on Bumble, some would say it was love at first sight as the mustached boy told the fair blonde girl he loved her and would never leave her on the second date. On the third, the curly hair girl knew she loved him back.
Though they lived several hours from each other at the time, the mustached boy and curly haired girl would spend countless hours driving back and forth to see each other as much as they possibly could, not long, six months to be exact, the mustached boy decided to move to the city where the curly haired girl lived. A magical place called Nashville. Though he tried to find a place of his own, the mustached boy ended up moving in with the curly haired girl and her two roommates unexpectedly. Neither of them were prepared for what it was like living with someone you loved and after many arguments about the toilet seat being left up, their love grew stronger and after the curly haired girl confirmed it with her trusty guardian angel Ivy, they decided to keep the mustached boy.
Soon it was time for their love to grow and by that we mean their lease was up, and they decided to move into a place of their own, directly across the street from the house they lived in. They continued to live there for the next year, learning, growing - sometimes painfully, and understanding what it really means to love someone unconditionally. Many times the curly haired girl questioned everything because she’d been hurt so many times before, yet the mustached boy never waiver, never doubted, and never gave up on the curly haired girl. Soon, it was time to add to their love and the trusty guardian angel Ivy got a sister, Iris the small.
During the mustached boy and curly haired girl’s third year together in love, they had many hardships and trials to overcome. Demons and beasts from expected and unexpected places came out to test them repeatedly throughout the course of the year that threatened to crush them, yet their love for each other prevailed even when some wished otherwise. The mustached boy and curly haired girl could not be separated from each other and their love for themselves and each other only grew stronger. So many hardships took place that year, the mustached boy and curly haired girl grew into their own, not just a boy and a girl anymore, but a man and a lady.
Their lives together only fell into place even more in their fourth year of love. The mustached man soothing every broken piece of the curly hair lady’s heart. The curly haired lady pushing the mustached man into everything he always wanted to be. They complimented each other in ways they never knew were possible.
Where one failed, the other prevailed.
Where one stumbled, the other picked them up and carried them together.
When one was afraid, the other fought the battle with them.
When one cried, the other held them tight throughout the night.
When one didn’t think they could go on, the other showed them how.
When one was lost, the other came and found them, never leaving them alone.
Where one needed help, the other was there and never complained.
When one needed a smile, the other made them laugh.
Whenever one called, the other answered.
The mustached man and curly haired lady became everything that the other never even knew they needed or was missing from life. They cried, they laughed, they made mistakes, they danced, they fought, they said they were sorry, and they loved each other endlessly. They continue to learn what love is every single day and actively choose each other no matter what. The mustached man and curly haired lady knew long before anything else that their lives were intertwined like ivy branches, so the mustached man got down on one knee, not once, but twice and proposed to the curly haired lady.
The mustached man and curled hair lady will get married in their fifth year together, celebrating a love story that can only be described as a fairytale beginning for the two in a castle in a far away country surrounded by those who truly love them.
Written by Emmy
On November 20th, 2020, Dane and Emmy went on their first date. Being his first online date, Dane didn't know what to expect. When Emmy opened the door, he didn't realize at the time that it was love at first sight. He couldn't get enough of the feeling; he wanted to be there, wanted to be with her constantly. But the next day, Emmy was off to Hawaii. Dane remembered a friend telling him, "You'll never see her again," but he knew there was something special about their first date. On their second date, he held nothing back, telling Emmy that he loved her after dinner that night. It was all or nothing for him. At the time, he was living in Alto, and both of them were making the 4-hour round trip to Nashville multiple times a week. Emmy had always felt a sense of wanderlust, and their first travel experience together was to New Orleans on New Year's, marking the start of many adventures. In August of 2021, they went to Costa Rica. The following spring marked a period of many changes for them as Dane moved to Nashville to be closer to the love of his life. Working to make a life together a reality, they moved in with each other in April of 2022.
The next two years were full of weekly Wednesday dinners with friends, trips to Florida, an adventure in New York City, work promotions, and everything life had to throw at them along the way. However, the travel bug had bitten, and it wasn’t letting go. They had bigger plans than weekends in Florida, but there was one little love bug of a different kind joining the family. Iris, almost named Wisteria (sorry, Swifties), joined the family. Ivy's litter sister was a bundle of joy from the first day, permanently attaching herself to Emmy and Dane.
The tail end of 2022 marked the time to plan for their first European trip, the biggest adventure of their relationship. Emmy had always wanted to take her mom to Europe, and Dane and Emmy together were determined to make it happen. The trip included Emmy's favorite city, Florence, and that was where Dane wanted to propose. The problem was that Florence was on day 13 of the trip. The ring felt like a boulder in the pocket of his bag. Checking it and double-checking it more times than patting for a passport, finally, the day came. Three countries and 200,000 steps later, the beautiful Florence day was here. It was the perfect setting, but like anything in life, it was not the perfect timing. The photoshoot was booked in the middle of the afternoon sun—a perfect time to enjoy gelato—but the sweat glistening off our skin outshone the jewelry markets of the Ponte Vecchio. Full sweat, heat hives, blisters, and white gold instead of yellow gold. It was not the proposal they wanted. As the shadows grew longer and the once-boiling streets turned shady, the night came alive with the sounds of shops and restaurants. Tucking off that evening into a small-town square, the newly engaged couple knew there was a blossoming love between them that the hottest of days or the worst of photographers couldn’t get between. From there, it was Rome, then Cinque Terre, and Lisbon before heading home. The train rides were over and the salt from the sea had washed away, but there was no denying that the two were still head over heels for each other.
That fall came quickly, along with its challenges. Leaning on each other, the couple and their two pups found a place to stay back in the city, safe to grow and nurture the love between them. New horizons were on the bucket list, namely Puerto Rico. In the spring of 2024, they made it happen, along with their friend Camille. The trip was, for them, a jump into the life they wanted to live—new experiences, new cities, and, most of all, new connections and understandings. There was no stopping there; they came back invigorated. New jobs, new habits, and new plans.
On July 12th, Dane proposed for the second time. Engagements mark the start of something beautiful—two people committing to each other under God forever. It was only right that they needed to turn the page from the last year and begin fresh again. A new ring with a second stone, a Toi et Moi symbolizing "You and Me"—ironically, a French-coined name—replaced the old. A new summer, a fresh start, but most importantly, a new chapter to the story.
We're in that chapter now, exploring new careers, pushing, and finding our limits. Looking back on the last two years we've been engaged, it’s been a journey. And in the words of the French, C’est la vie. And so, life moves on. Plans and people change, parties are ruined, and transformations are made. And in that metamorphosis is where the beauty lies. That transformation from boy to man, from single to couple, from troubled to calm. It's the storms that wash the seashells to the shore. I've never been more excited to rise like the sun to every occasion and meet every new day with Emmy.