Our story can be summed up by one simple word: Fate. We both strongly believed we would find our person when the stars aligned. More specifically, we would find the right person at the right time. Little did we know that person would be working in the same office, on the same floor, and be found more than 8 years into our careers!

While we met outside of work months before officially dating, it wasn’t until after a work event (and some gentle pushing from friends and coworkers), did Brian finally strike up the moxie to ask Rachel out on a date in the Summer of 2022. Once that date came around, there was no turning back – we both knew there was something different and everything with it came easy.

Within months, we knew we were ready to think long term and what our life together would look like. Over the span of 3 months in 2023, Brian (with Murphy) sold his condo in Dallas (May), moved into Rachel’s apartment (June), and we pulled the trigger on a house together (July). By August, we had settled into our new life and were excited to take on the next stage, with Murphy by our sides.

Little did Rachel know that behind the scenes, Brian had already started preliminary Wedding planning and asked Mr. and Mrs. Hopper for their blessing in marriage while at a close family friend’s wedding in Colorado that August.

After a month dedicated to planning, organizing, and coordinating the surprise engagement, with TONS of help from family and friends, Brian popped the question on October 7, 2023. We spent the day together with our families, galivanting around Fort Worth, which had become our favorite spot to explore together and had so much Hopper family history. After some careful maneuvering to get everything set up, Brian surprised Rachel in the backyard of our new house in front of our immediate families. We enjoyed dinner together at our favorite spot, Hudson House on Lovers Lane, which had become our go-to place to celebrate major life milestones.

Rachel had always mentioned how special it would be for our closest family and friends to take part in engagement festivities. To put a bow on the already picturesque day, Brian, and an unsuspecting Rachel, returned home to find a packed house of our people ready to surprise us as a newly engaged couple. It was the perfect way to start our next chapter and we remain just as excited about spending the rest of our lives together to build on what has already been everything we could ever hope for.

As our story and engagement show, our family and friends mean the world to us, and we know we wouldn’t be where we are in our relationship without your love and support. Each of you reading this has played an important part in our lives and we can’t wait to celebrate with you in October!