Lauren and Corey

2016 – September – 01: After messaging back and forth a few times on a popular dating website, Lauren and I decided to meet in person. We were to meet after work and go kayaking on the Allegheny River followed by dinner at SoHo a nearby restaurant. As my usual I had no clue how to get there to meet Lauren and I screwed up the directions that Anastacia (my GPS) was giving me. Even though I left early I was mortified that I was late for our first date. It turns out that Lauren was running late too (which I would learn very quickly is to be expected of Lauren). She eventually messaged me that she had parked and was on her way to me. Several minutes later a rather large African American male came down the stairs and sat down near me in the completely desolate waiting spot I had chosen and pulled out his phone. At this point I felt that there was a good chance that this guy was Lauren and I had been catfished. After several uncomfortable minutes Lauren showed up and our story began onone of the rivers three.

The engagement

2018 – May – 28: A little backstory to set the atmosphere. We were on a family vacation with Lauren’s family in Emerald Isle, NC (The Outer Banks). To reduce any suspicion of what was to come, I insisted that every morning we would walk the beach around sunrise and that I would bring my camera backpack with me to take photos. After a couple of days of establishing a routine it was time to spring my elaborate plan into action. For my plan to work I was going to need some help. I enlisted Lauren’s sister-in-law Becky to assist me with my proposal. As we went out for our walk, I messaged Becky to retrieve three glass bottles with aged letters in them from our room and plant one of them near the water so that Lauren would find one and she would think that it washed ashore. Becky used a toy shovel as a marker to indicated that the bottle was nearby. On our way back I saw the shovel, but could not locate the bottle. I started to panic thinking that the bottle washed away, someone else had grabbed it, or one of a million other things happened. Trying to remain calm, I suggested that we walk a bit more in the opposite direction. I messaged Becky to plant another bottle. Lauren became suspicious of me being on my phone so much. I told her that Becky was asking about breakfast and we kept walking. After receiving confirmation that another bottle was planted and a third was planted in an easy to find location we headed back again. As we headed back, more drama ensued. Someone looking for recyclables on the beach discovered one of the bottles. She thought that she found a legit message in a bottle that washed up overnight. Luckily Becky saw this and yelled at her. The woman became irritated and threw the bottle into the sand in anger. Once again, I spotted the shovel, but this time I could see a bottle. Lauren saw the bottle as well, but then something went wrong yet again. Lauren spotted a second bottle. I tried to play this off as a crazy coincidence. After discovering the bottles, I suggested that she open one. She wanted to take them back and open them with her family, but I insisted that she open at least one of them now. I helped Lauren remove the letter from the bottle and instructed her to read it out loud. While she was reading, I was trying to sneakily retrieve the ring from my camera backpack. When she was nearing the end of the letter, I got down on one knee and waited for her to finish reading. Then at that point I asked Lauren if she would marry me.

The wedding

Gardens of Stonebridge ttps://gardensofstonebridge.com/

JPC Event Group http://www.jpceventgroup.com/

Flour & Sugar Cakery https://www.flourandsugarcakery.com/

Amy Broderick of A Soulful Commitment https://www.soulfulcommitment.com/

Karrie Hlista Designs http://www.karriehlistadesigns.com/

Bryan Hoover https://djbryanhoover.com/