how we met
there’s something to be said for “God’s timing is always right” because it certainly rings true in our story.
in 2013, brandon had graduated from uva and moved to houston for his new job. hayden was already living in houston because yes - if you do the math - she is older than brandon. hayden’s cousin, matt, had recommended brandon reach out to her to introduce him to people since not only is it her hometown but she had already been living there for a year. brandon sent hayden a facebook message and they had every intention of grabbing drinks but the messages can no longer be found, so jury is still out on who ghosted who.
fast forward to summer 2019, hayden had gone to a family dinner one saturday night with her cousin matt in attendance. the two of them were both single so why not go out after dinner, given it was a saturday night after all? matt invited a few guy friends to come meet them at little woodrow’s on shepherd and god very quickly highlighted brandon to hayden. since she was the only girl in the group that night, she went back and forth between playing games (and winning) against brandon, trying to draw brandon’s eyes away from golden tee and onto her, and befriending other females at the bar. 2 out of 3 were a success. hayden ended up making friends with and inviting a woman named jentry to the next bar, dogwood, with the intention of introducing her to matt. the plan worked - hayden and brandon hit it off, as did jentry and matt!
as fate would have it, brandon was soon to leave for business school at dartmouth which was a quick two flights and an hour and a half drive away. so, hayden and brandon ended up spending every waking moment together before his departure. that fall, hayden visited brandon in hanover where the two made their relationship “official” - kids these days call it a “hard launch” - and ended up spending the next two years falling love with one another. If we can survive a pandemic whilst long-distance, we’re definitely prepared to conquer anything together!
now, we can’t wait to celebrate our love with all of our family and friends during our wedding weekend at the greenbrier in october!
spoiler alert: jentry and matt also got married in march 2022! god sure knew what he was doing after that fateful family dinner.
the proposal
in case some of you don’t have social media, here is the proposal story shared on hayden’s instagram written from her perspective:
"as I’m sure many of you know, Christmas is, by far, my favorite time of year and it just got a whole lot brighter and better, thanks to the sweetest gift from above!
one day in November 2017, I was having a really rough day about being single and had given into the enemy’s taunts of “feeling behind.” I left work with tearful eyes and drove straight to St. Martin’s, my childhood church, to pray. only when I arrived, the doors to the church were locked… so, I moved over to the courtyard and sat at a table journaling through my tears and praying to God. moments later, our pastor Russ Levenson, who is one of the finest men in this world, walked past me and smiled as he walked into his clergy meeting. within minutes, Russ had already come back outside because “God had told him that he needed to talk to me.” he then prayed over me, and instilled this new hope in me and my future that truly cannot be described in words.
years later, Brandon had listened to my testimony and kept it safe in his heart until this day. where he proposed in that VERY SAME courtyard during my very favorite time of year! (and yes, I was very cold). how did I get so lucky?
Brandon has a way of making me look at things differently. a way of making me close my eyes and see things with my heart. and for that, I am eternally grateful that God brought you to me. thank you for choosing me yesterday, today, and in all the days to come! I can’t wait to walk through this life with you, bubba”
