People always ask us how we met. We usually give two slightly different answers, both of which we confidently defend as “the real one,” depending on the day and who’s telling it. But at its core, we met while serving in the Air Force overseas.

Picture it: somewhere far from home, a lot of structure, a little chaos, and the shared experience of not always knowing what time zone—or what reality—we were in. We worked together, which on paper sounds very professional, but in practice meant long days, longer nights, and a steady rotation of “we’ll figure it out” energy.

Somewhere in the middle of that, we realized we had the same kind of humor, the same patience for chaos, and the same ability to make lifting weights, volleyball, and travel sound like personality traits.

So we started out as friends. Then we became the people who always ended up in the same place. Then the people who didn’t need an explanation for why that was happening anymore.

We often joke that we’ve been together longer than we actually have. Deployment time doesn’t behave like normal time—it stretches, compresses, and somehow turns a few months into what we now casually refer to as “our years together,” even though no official calendar agrees.

Life over there had its own rhythm: shared meals when someone remembered to eat, quick check-ins after long days, and the kind of quiet moments that didn’t feel like much at the time, but somehow meant everything. Nothing dramatic. Just steady, simple connection in the middle of a not-so-simple place.

As Rihanna so accurately reported, we really did find love in a hopeless place—somewhere between questionable Wi-Fi, unpredictable schedules, and an impressive amount of sand.

After returning home, life shifted gears. Brandi moved from Texas to North Carolina after her separation from the military to begin a new chapter with Gregory. Suddenly, instead of coordinating around deployments, we were figuring out things like groceries, traffic, and how often it’s acceptable to ask “what do you want to eat?” (answer: still too often).

We traveled up and down the East Coast, and eventually to Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Philippines—where we confidently upgraded ourselves to “travel people,” despite ongoing evidence that we are mostly “people who enjoy pre-flight drinks and aisle seats.” It was in the Philippines, surrounded by family on vacation, that Gregory proposed to Brandi. It was one of those moments that felt both planned and completely overwhelming in the best way—like everything paused just long enough to say, yep, this is it.

Now we’re here—somehow turning all of that into a wedding—and so excited to celebrate with all of you who have been part of the story from the very beginning, whether you were watching closely or just along for the ride.