On August 27 2015, at the beginning of their sophomore year at Florida State University, Chris and Sara met at Potbelly's bar in Tallahassee, Florida. On that fateful evening, Chris's roommate at the time, now groomsman, Tyler Martin, spotted a girl on the other side of the bar that he wanted to talk to. She was with another friend and so, as any good friend would, Chris tagged along to aid his buddy as a wingman and distract the friend. He was happy to do so as this friend, Sara, was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Although she now disputes this, Sara could not have been less interested in conversing with Chris, likely over concern for her friend but also because she had just transferred to FSU from Union College in upstate New York and had jokingly been told by a friend “good luck finding a good guy at FSU”. In her mind, it was her first week in a new school, she wasn’t really looking for anything, and this conversation with this guy was not going to go anywhere.

After fighting tooth and nail for any possible information that he could work with, he discovered that Sara was also from Miami, played the saxophone in high school like he had, had one morning class in common with him on Fridays, and that she and her friend lived in the same housing complex as Chris and Tyler. Chris saw an opportunity to get to know her better and as the only one of them to have a car at the time, offered to drive her to campus on Fridays for their morning class – an offer which she accepted. The night was nearing its end and the two parted ways after exchanging numbers.

For the first two weeks, Chris did not have much luck getting anything out of Sara. He would make great effort to engage her in conversations on their morning car rides and get little in response. They texted a little bit but not much. He wasn’t sure that she remotely liked him and was fairly certain that she just liked being driven to campus. It didn’t matter; he was just happy to drive the pretty girl to campus once a week. Little did he know how much she enjoyed those car rides and conversations. He tried to meet her whenever she was out with her friends, and before she knew it, she had developed a bit of a crush on him. She thought he was a cute and cocky fraternity boy, but also surprisingly nice. Despite being someone who takes a little bit of time to open up to new people, Sara began letting her guard down. She began laughing at his jokes, engaging more in their conversations, and texting more frequently. On September 6th, one day before his birthday, she told him, “I think I kind of hate you” with a smile that told him in fact the opposite was true. After their next car ride, Chris invited Sara to his fraternity’s first party of the year – a date function. Sara nervously accepted but ended up having an amazing night where she, for the first time, felt fully comfortable with Chris.

Sara and Chris kept going to class and date functions together which signaled to Sara that things might be getting serious, and on November 8, 2015, Chris asked Sara to be his girlfriend. Throughout the rest of college, they took many classes together and spent a lot time in the library, but enjoyed many game days and had a lot of fun. They – Sara especially – remain steadfast supporters of the Seminoles.

Since these early days, Sara and Chris have been through a lot together and have experienced many significant milestones as a couple. Chris adopted the couple’s dog, Payton; they graduated from Florida State; made it through dating long distance; went through graduate school; moved to two different cities; and have made many close friends together all along the way.

Chris proposed to Sara on Friday, June 30th 2023, after 7 and a half years of dating. They will have been together for almost a decade by the time they marry, and their love has never been stronger.