Riley and Macie met on September 30th, 2017 at a mutual friend's birthday party during their freshman year of college at TCU. They were friends for a while; however, after about 6 months of knowing each other, Riley asked Macie to be his girlfriend. They have been together ever since through school transfers, graduations (x4), family trips, a pandemic, a move to Colorado and so much more. Now, nearly 6 years to the date that they met, they'll be getting married!
Last summer, Riley went on a backpacking trip to Europe with his sister to cross it off their bucket lists and celebrate his graduation. Riley convinced Macie to join them at the end of their trip to go to Switzerland, France, and Italy. He carefully carried the engagement ring with him across Europe for 4 weeks before Macie arrived. While in Paris, both Macie and Riley were enamored by the Eiffel Tower sparkling each night. Riley made sure that they saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle each night, several times a night as it sparkles on the hour for five minutes. The night before the proposal, Riley insisted that they go to the bottom of the tower and watch it shine at midnight. The next day, on August 21, 2022 they explored the city all day with a trip to a couple of amazing restaurants, the aquarium, and a walk to the tower. Dinner reservations were made at a popular restaurant right in front of the Eiffel Tower, so by the afternoon it was time to walk back to the hotel and get ready for dinner.
At dinner, there were only a handful of tables with a perfect view of the tower, and the two got the best seat for the view by pure luck. After dinner, Riley suggested a walk to the tower and said he had a specific spot he wanted to get to for the best view. As they got near the spot on the Seine River with a view of the tower, Riley proposed to Macie with a hidden photographer in place to capture every moment. The tower had become a special place in just a few days after taking in the beauty of it each night and having it be the backdrop of the proposal. It was a day straight out of a fairy tale! After the proposal, Riley and Macie had another 5 days left in Europe where they got to celebrate their engagement together on the Amalfi coast in Italy. The trip was pure bliss and started off their engagement in the best possible way.