We are so excited to welcome you to Hickory, NC to celebrate with us!

We met through mutual friends a couple times the first year Kate moved back to the Hickory area, but we didn't start dating until almost a year later, during the pandemic. Our first "real" date was at Chad's house and he made dinner because restaurants were not open yet. When Kate arrived, Chad was still in sweaty clothes and hadn't been to the grocery store yet because he had spent hours installing fire pits to make the back deck of his house more romantic for the date. It worked!

Chad and Kate were in New York City, where they both have strong ties, enjoying a night out on the town. They were having way too much fun showing each other their favorite spots in the city before heading to dinner at an omakase restaurant in the West Village. When they arrived for their seating, they were a little early and the hostess had them wait at the bar in the restaurant upstairs, where they ordered cocktails. Chad was stealthy and slipped the ring into Kate's dirty martini when she wasn't looking. Unfortunately for him, momentarily later, the hostess came up to retrieve them for dinner. Kate told Chad she was done with her martini, but obviously Chad could not let that happen, so while Kate went down to be seated, Chad paid the bill and had the bartender add ice into the martini and brought it downstairs. Kate was confused as to why Chad had added ice and was insisting she drink the last few sips of this dirty martini and even exclaimed "I know drinks are expensive in New York, but do I really have to lick the glass," and once more tried to give the glass to the staff. Chad then took the ice back out of the glass and insisted to Kate that she had not finished the martini and told her to look in the bottom of the glass. It was the MOST expensive drink Kate had ever had in her life. The host brought out wine and Kate and Chad celebrated with the rest of the restaurant and for the rest of the weekend Kate's mom and dad.