Tell us how you met.
The way Connor and I met is one of my favorite stories. We went to the same high school, were in the same grade, and had never spoken before. My best friend started dating his brother in high school, so I knew of him, of course. After graduating, my best friend, Bailee, married his brother, Austin, and I was the maid of honor in their wedding. Still, we had not ever talked. I went off to college and he went off to the army. After I went through a breakup with a guy in college I decided to write down a 10 page prayer for what I wanted in my future husband. It was extremely detailed and raw and from the heart. I was tired of begging and settling for bare minimum. Another big thing for me was that I wanted to stay in my hometown and it was extremely hard to find someone who would want to settle down in Pineville, Louisiana. I started going to therapy as well because I wanted to become someone that would be a good future wife. Then one day I went swimming with my best friend and her husband and we were just chit chatting about my love life and that’s when Austin said “you know my brother is single and wants to live in Pineville” and the rest is history!! He matches all 10 pages of prayer to a T. It’s like he was perfectly planted in my life at the perfect time. He has been active duty in the military since we started dating so we built our relationship on long distance but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tell the story of your proposal.
Our proposal went a little differently than the typical proposal. He had a plan in the works for months. He was going to propose in May around the time I graduate college because he would be home and we could be with family after. He had a photographer booked and everything. Then, in April he found out he was going to be deployed overseas. We were devastated. We had been counting down the days to seeing eachother again to now having to navigate how being in a long distance relationship while he is deployed is going to look. At this point my best friend, Bailee and her husband (his brother Austin) had the ring with them because they picked it up from the store for him since he’s in North Carolina. As soon as he found out he was being deployed, he texted Bailee saying “I don’t want to leave without making her my fiance first”. Connor and I were supposed to be going to the Zach Bryan concert the weekend after, so I already had a flight booked to go see him. Him and I had first bonded over Zach Bryan the first time we talked on the phone so we were sad we had to miss it. My mom changed the flight to where I could leave the next morning. We knew he’d be leaving within a week and they wanted me to be able to say goodbye. Then Bailee texted me asking to go for a drive. I was in tears over deployment and we always went on drives in high school as our way of hanging out. Of course I said yes let’s go. That’s when she came over and handed me the ring box. She said “don’t open it, don’t look at it, just give it to Connor as soon as he picks you up from the airport”. And I did just that. I traveled from Louisiana to North Carolina thinking about the fact that my ring was in my purse and I was about to send my soon to be fiance overseas. When I got there I handed him the box. He already had a new plan in the works. He got my friend, Ashlyn (who is also a photographer), to teach one of his army buddies how to use a camera. Somehow it all fell into place. We got ready to go to dinner and before we went he brought us to a lake dock where he got down on one knee and proposed. Although it wasn’t the “ideal” proposal and I knew about it the whole time, it was perfect because it was our little moment and I was just so excited to have that moment with him.

Tell us about the ring!
3 months into our relationship, Connor and I talked about getting engaged. When you know, you sure know. After we had a conversation about it, of course I was so excited and just wanted to go try on rings. I had just gotten my nails done and was driving around Lafayette (my college town) when I passed by Dianna Rae Jewelry. I figured why not. What could it hurt to just try on rings??? So I pulled in and decided to go look. I always wear my grandmother’s ring on my right hand and it is gold and very vintage looking. I wanted something that would be the same style and be timeless. I always thought I wanted an emerald shape diamond with a gold band. I walked in and was greeted by the sweetest lady who told me all about the “ring playground”. I got to put on all kinds of bands and all kinds of diamonds. It was a blast. I ended up falling in love with the marquise shape. The lady started to notice what style I was going for and grabbed the ring I have now, except the diamond was an oval shape. I fell in LOVE with it. It was beautiful. I decided to see if they could customize it to the marquise shape and they did exactly that. We customized it online and sized my finger. We even got to customize it to fit the wedding band I want to put with it in the future. They wrote it all down for Connor and he called later to start going through the process of picking sizes and getting it made. It is absolutely perfect and everything I wanted. I didn’t see what it looked like until Connor was down on one knee because all I could see in the store was the online “mockup” and obviously it does not do it justice. I was speechless.

Tell us about the wedding!
We aren’t married yet!! We’re waiting on Connor to get home from the army, but we do have a few details in the works!! We booked the venue!! It’s called The Josephine in Pineville, Louisiana. It’s absolutely stunning. I want the wedding vibes to be very vintage and timeless… The Josephine fits those vibes perfectly!! We are so excited to start our future together and wedding planning!! Connor has been deployed overseas with little to no contact, so we are just taking it day by day until we get to spend forever together!