Wes and Em met online through Hinge in St. Louis in July 2021.
Em was new to St. Louis. Wes suggested their first date to be something neither of them have done, and Em immediately thought he meant a restaurant neither had tried. However, Wes surprised her and recommended they do kickboxing as their first date. Wes’ intention was that if she was down to do a physical activity on the first date and not look all dolled up, then everything else in the relationship would be easy. Wes picked Em up in his orange Jeep, Reba, and they were off. Em was anxious but let up as Wes made her laugh, made her feel comfortable, and promised to keep her safe. They both had a blast.
To keep the party going afterward, they went to a dive bar called “Nicks Pub.” Over cheap Blue Moons and bar food, they quickly realized how much they had in common, such as both growing up in small, rural Illinois towns. After the bar, they kept the night going with a late-night drive throughout St. Louis in Reba with the doors and roof off, and enjoying the summer evening wind blowing on their faces and listening to country music.
Ever since then, they’ve been inseparable. That was the start to their love story and lives together-- full of laughter and adventure through lifes simplest of pleasures, while enjoying a few chicken wings and beers along the way.

Wes and Em quickly moved in together after their initial date and started to build their lives together. Wes assumed the father figure in Em’s black cat, Eleanor’s, life. Eventually they grew their family and welcomed their golden retriever, Dax.
Wes and Em could be found traveling to new cities, exploring all that St. Louis has to offer, living it up in luxury seating at Cardinal’s games, or being domestic and working on one of Wes’ home improvement projects. They love making memories together in life’s simplest pleasures.
Notably, Wes and Em could be found at Siesta Key each summer before they transitioned into the fall season. Siesta Key was their first vacation together and they fell in love with it and kept returning back, as it is their comfort spot when they needed to escape.

Wes asked Em to marry him on February 13, 2025, in the comfort of their home.
Earlier in the day, Wes and Em had a volunteering event at Ronald McDonald House through Em’s work. After serving and in their typical fashion, Wes and Em got beers and bar food before going home. Wes made a comment after dinner and on the way home that his stomach hurt, but Em thought he just ate too much and too fast and didn’t think anything of it.
They returned home around 9:30 PM and Wes said he had an early Valentine’s Day surprise for Em and quickly darted downstairs to grab it and instructed Em to stay upstairs until he said to come down. Again, Em naively didn’t think anything of this. First, it was almost 10 PM on a work day. Second, her birthday was the previous week and she just thought that he was getting her a door accessory for her new front door he gifted her for her birthday (again—very domestic and simple couple).
Wes called Em to come downstairs and she made her way down. As she turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs, she saw Wes down on one knee and he asked her to marry him. Of course she said, “Yes!”
He took Em by surprise-- she was not expecting it and thats what they both wanted. It was intimate and private. During the proposal, Wes expressed he didnt want to do it on actual Valentine’s Day itself because it was cheesy but he said he couldn’t spend another Valentine’s Day without her being closer to being his wife. Wes later admitted his stomach hurt earlier on the way home because he was so nervous leading up to the moment.
They quickly went to the closest gas station, bought the most expensive champagne and they stayed up most of the night celebrating the next chapter together.