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How we met:

Courtney was a spitfire southern belle, looking for a change of scenery, Matt was a Socal boy, back home from Oregon after college, also looking for something new. Courtney had applied for a West Coast expansion at the jewelry store she worked at, and within a matter of months was on her way to Redondo Beach. Matt had just visited his family in Dallas, and during a night of soul searching, his aunt mentioned "you need to find yourself a good Texas girl!" Courtney was put in touch with a girl Brooke who would be working with her, and was looking for a roommate. Without even meeting, a lease was signed! On their first night as roommates, the wine and the dating apps came out - after looking through matches they discovered Brooke was a mutual friend of a cute blondish haired guy with a sparkling white smile named Matt. Brooke had known Matt all throughout school and coincidentally enough, Matt was living with one of his best friends James at the time, who happened to be Brooke's cousin! Matt was skeptical of meeting someone from online, but with a mutual connection and remembering what his aunt had said, he took a shot! Matt made dinner reservations at a local classic Redondo Beach dinner spot, The Bottle Inn, and picked Courtney up at her place on the way. The conversation flowed from the start and we found out we had many things in common, like our diehard love for the Cowboys, and that both of our favorite guilty pleasures were watching The Bachelor. Our waiter's name was Matt, and after deciding we didn't want the night to end, we went to grab a drink at a nearby bar, where our waitresses' name was Courtney. Both of us being Cowboy's fans definitely helped in winning each other over, but it was learning we had both lost a parent to cancer that really changed the course of this first date. For the first time we really felt like we had someone who could relate and understand, and in that moment we created a connection that neither of us had felt before. Almost five years and a crazy dog later, we couldn't be happier to start this next chapter of our lives. And everytime we look back on our love story, we can't help but think two guardian angels helped bring us together.

How we got engaged:

Matt had the ring picked out, the date set, he just needed a plan! He thought who better to help plan this than the girl who was there from the start! He and Brooke planned a "barbecue" at a beach club that her family were members of. Courtney had no clue and asked Brooke if she should make an appetizer, luckily Brooke told her no and to make sure to dress up incase we went out after. We stopped at Bevmo on our way in, and Brooke was running late. Courtney asked Matt what type of wine to get for Brooke's parents and he picked a nice $70 bottle, she insisted on paying and Matt let her. We arrived at the beach club, and while we waited for Brooke, Matt suggested going to overlook a gazebo nearby. There were a few groups of highschoolers taking their Prom photos out in front, so Courtney was not having it. Matt pushed her out of the car and quickly walked them through the paparazzi of prom photos to get to the gazebo. Completely oblivious, Courtney overlooked the gazebo at the ocean waving at who she thought was Brooke's mom waiting below for the barbecue. Matt started professing his love in a sequence of words, quite honestly neither of us can remember, and Courtney completely blacked out. After the initial shock, Matt on one knee, and an amazing diamond ring later, Courtney finally said YES!!! To her surprise, a photographer that she thought had been with the prom group, was actually there to capture the special moment. A few photos later, we headed down to the beach to take more when we were met by our parents, siblings and cousins all there to celebrate with us!!! We ended the night at The Bottle Inn, just where it all began.