Note: the story below was written by the groom & reviewed by the bride/editor/landlord/boss


Our Story was almost a short one.


To steal a phrase from Evie’s younger brother Del, I “rizzed her up” with my first message on Hinge, then repeatedly went days at a time without responding. As a millennial with minimal online dating knowledge or experience, I simply forgot to check the app – a true story that my Gen Z editor neither understands nor believes. When I did respond, the messages I got back averaged approximately 6.5 words & zero exclamation points or emojis, so I was a bit surprised when she agreed to let me take her out the evening of Saturday, July 17th of 2021.


I pulled up to her apartment complex that night with no idea what to expect, how to pronounce her first name, or what she’d think of the songs I’d queued up on my drive over. My nerves reached a crescendo when she rounded the corner towards my car in her cute little tank top & ripped jeans. After hopping out for an awkward side hug & quick clarification on name pronunciation (hint – it does not sounds like E-V), I pressed play on Devin Dawson’s ‘All on Me’ then proceeded to do 95% of the talking on a 5 minute drive to Sol Cantina that felt much longer.


I’d later learn that her refusal to speak at the start of date one was not because she hated me or my music, but because she’d had a big night out the night before & had spent all day paying the price for it. To the point where she was still debating cancelling on me an hour before I picked her up. Told ya this story was almost a short one!


A little hair of the dog did the trick, per usual, and by the time she finished her first margarita it was already game over for me. The feelings were mutual, apparently, as she texted her friends from the bathroom to let them know that the date was going very well & I was much cuter than my Hinge pictures. Thanks?


The highlight of night one was the post-dinner pit stop at Society to pick up a lemon drop shot & the credit card she’d forgotten there the night before. Next thing I know, I’m deleting the Hinge app in front of her in a grand, dramatic, drunken gesture in the middle of Hot Country Nights. The highlights since then are too numerous to count, including driving to the Grand Canyon in a rented Prius, swimming with the sting rays in Grand Cayman, our first trip to Europe, dozens of Chiefs games, countless weddings & hundreds of hours of Bravo reality TV and Netflix dating shows.


Everything I learned about her along the way pushed me deeper & deeper in love. She has an amazing, loving family & treats mine like her own. She has a great group of friends & makes a point to stay in touch and spend time with them even when life & adulthood makes it tough. Her list of roles, titles & accomplishments is longer than a CVS receipt: daughter, sister, friend, dog mom, nurse, student / soon to be nurse practitioner, Tik Toker, cook, homeowner, landlord, and fiancée – my personal favorite – just to name a few.


She handles it all with grace & compassion, putting others before herself at every turn. She knows how to have a good time too & is the only person alive that could get me to P&L, Westport or the Plaza as often as she does. I stopped trying to keep up about two years ago, but still tag along to see her karate chop dance moves & hear her laugh which is far and away the happiest sound in the universe.


It may seem like I’ve lost the plot by turning this into a love letter, but I really dont know how to tell Our Story any other way. And it excites me beyond belief to know that the best chapter is still to come, when I get to make her my wife on 5/31/2025 in the presence of everyone we love the most.


Thanks to all of you for reading, and for being there for us every step of the way!