Meeting at work at Carolina Roadhouse, Bill had been playing hard to get and Katie took the bait. When she went back to California for work, they were both surprised that they were finding themselves falling in love, all long distance. After a little more than two years, Bill took Katie on a trip to a North Carolina aquarium with his family. There was a Q&A session with a scuba diver in the shark tank and toward the end, the diver asked if there were any more questions and whether there was a Katie in the audience. At that moment, Bill proposed while the diver held up a sign that said, “Katie, will you marry me?” The ceremony took place under the live oaks at Litchfield Plantation and was simple but elegant. Katie’s high school orchestra teacher played with a string trio during the ceremony and there was a bourbon and cigar bar provided by the Tinder Box, owned by Katie’s family. The couple currently live in Winston-Salem. PHOTOGRAPH BY PAULA PLAYER