It all began in an auto repair shop...

Yes you read that correctly. We were set up on a blind date by the owner of our auto repair shop named Eric. Between Sarah's dad, Tim, and Tom's mom, Karen, Eric felt that he knew us very well. Fearing the idea of a blind date, we were both a little hesitant to go. Karen suggested Freemason Abbey restaurant in downtown Norfolk as a first date.

We met at the restaurant, Tom, excited for his first date, arrived early and started to have a drink at the bar. Luckily for Tom the bar had a small TV which had the ECU football game on. Tom ordered a glass of red wine and waited for Sarah to arrive. When Sarah walked into the restaurant, Tom knew that it was Sarah right away and watched as the hostess pointed her in his direction. Tom watched as Sarah seemed to move in slow motion towards him, raising his wine glass to take a sip he muttered "shit" because he knew that the love of his life had just walked in. Immediately a sense of ease came over the two of them as Tom asked Sarah if she wanted a drink at the bar before dinner. To which Sarah replied with a yes and a smile. Tom loved the fact that Sarah wanted to have a drink at the bar before they were seated and Sarah thought that Tom was incredibly attractive.

At dinner the two continued to hit it off and before they knew it they had closed the place down. The shared laughs and stories about Tom's drunken sea turtle watching in NC and Sarah's wheel of fortune watching nights home with her mom and dad, drinking dirty martinis.

After dating for more than a year, Tom decided it was time to propose and that he would do it on Sarah's birthday, December 29th. Tom tried multiple times to ask Sarah's dad but Sarah always seemed to get in the way. It wasn't until Sarah was sick that Tom could finally sneak away to ask Tim If he could marry his daughter. The road blocks didn't stop there. At every turn, Sarah was micromanaging the party by trying to "help." At first they had both agreed on a small celebration between just the two of them. This of course played perfectly into Tom's grand scheme to throw Sarah a large party with all of their family and friends invited so that Tom could propose. She finally gave up the reigns and Tom planned an incredible party. About an hour into it, Tom had his best friend Wade tell Sarah to go outside so Tom could give Sarah her birthday present. When Sarah walked into the backyard she was blown away. On the ground were candles lighting up a walkway to Tom.After the most amazing proposal, Tom got down on one knee and asked Sarah to marry him. She said yes about 1000 times. It was perfect!