It all started way back in the winter of 2015. We were both single and maneuvering not-so-succesfully through the Charlotte dating scene. Being elder millennials, we had given online dating a shot, primarily through apps on our phone. We both had met a few people, gone on a few dates, but hadn't met anyone to write home about. One night on a dating app we matched with one another. One profile said "retro-chic with a gypsy soul" (Rob: I didn’t exactly know what that meant but it sounded better than the generic “I like puppies and the outdoors” line seen on most profiles), the other profile said "6'5, not a ginger" (Elise: His profile didn't say much, but at least at 6'5 I could wear heels when we go out). After the initial first message we chatted all night. The next day we met for drinks and from the moment we first hugged it was love at first sight. We went on date after date and as they say, the rest is history....Except that’s not exactly how it happened.
Once the initial messages were sent, we spoke for a few weeks until communication faded. Fast forward a couple months later, we both "matched" again and decided to meet in person. Lunch was good, but there weren't any sparks, yet we kept in contact for a few more months, on and off.
Fast forward a few more months- we went out for a platonic dinner and began chatting online and texting at work every day. Through our daily conversations, we learned an incredible amount about one another and became best friends. We learned how to support one another, how to make each other smile, and what really made the other person tick. Over a year later, it was clear our friendship had grown into so much more. After some initial hesitancy (we didn’t want to ruin our friendship if it didn’t work out), we decided we were worth taking a chance on; We took a LEAP of faith, and we are so thankful we did!
Rob: Elise had hinted that if she were ever to be proposed to that she would want to have pictures. I wanted it to be a private moment and figured I could handle the photography. I was the most nervous I'd ever been, but I had it all planned out. I figured I would set my phone up to record just in case the pictures didn't turn out. I somehow got everything set up perfectly without raising any suspicion from Elise. I programmed the remote for a 5 second delay, got down on one knee, waited a moment...and nothing, not a single click from the camera. I panicked, but still managed to get up and reset. She turned around on the second attempt but of course I didn't hit the record button on my phone, and most of the pictures didn't come out because I still didn't really know what I was doing. Moral of the story, things don't have to go as planned to work out perfectly.
Elise: Gatlinburg, TN is one of our favorite places to go. When we got there, our cabin and the surrounding view was absolutely breathtaking. After we got settled, Rob was rushing me to get dressed so we could take sunset pictures before our dinner reservation. After getting dressed, we went outside and Rob set up the camera. I was told to gaze into the distance while he tested the lighting, and I did just that. I was completely in my own world, enjoying the view and mountain air (apparently this is when the phone was recording). When I finally did turn around, there was the man of my dreams, on bended knee, with the ring of my dreams. I squealed "What are you doing?!", and Rob made me laugh and cry, while asking me to be his wife. Everything was perfect and so very much "us", including me not turning around the first time, the camera not recording the second time, me turning around and saying "What are you doing?!"and Rob saying all the right things. It was us. Imperfect, but perfect for each other.