Our Story
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Athens 2009
Mikael and Delana’s story first starts off in a little place called Athens, where the beer flows like wine and beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.
MK spotted one of these beauties, Del Rae, after meeting through a group of mutual friends and quickly made moves to try and hold D’s hand… and was even more quickly denied. However, D did think that MK was just a LITTLE funny and after moving in next door to him the two began spending more and more time together.
Eventually D was smitten and with rumors of her peeking through the windows at a sun-bathing MK, he summoned up the courage to ask D on a date. From that first date MK and D just seemed to fit and in only a few short weeks it became Facebook official.
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Atlanta 2010 - 2014
After both graduating from UGA, MK and Del had to put on their big girl pants and head out into the world… or the city they’d pretty much lived in their whole lives outside of Athens. Anywho, they both found jobs and started living the city life with the prettiest golden retriever on the planet, Calley Rae.
The three were pretty much inseparable, not really by choice and more so because they lived in a 790 sq ft apartment that wasn’t much bigger than a Ford Focus, but they had each other.
Over time MK’s and D’s jobs turned into careers and the apartments got a teeny bit bigger with a few moves in between. While getting settled into their new apartment from the most recent move, D suggested they spend a weekend in Chicago after one of her work trips that was coming up in a few months. Flights were booked that night and the two started to excitedly plan for the weekend get away.
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Chicago 2014
This was MK’s first trip to the Windy City and D’s first time getting to explore Chicago outside of being in town for work, so the two went on a day of adventures and after some careful planning... AND walking a mini marathon around the city to scout out potential locations the day before while D was still working... MK and Del ended up on this bench on October 17, 2014.
The next part is somewhat of a blur, but from what people say MK dropped to a knee, opened a box with a ring in it, D saw the ring, D almost blacked out, D cried, D said yes, the two hugged, and boats started ripping donuts in celebration… mostly. After regaining consciousness, the two took a moment to themselves on their bench before calling friends and family with the exciting news and then were off to hit the streets of Chicago as a newly engaged couple.
Being the social butterfly that Del is she immediately let everyone within a 5 mile radius know that she had just gotten engaged and as soon as she did the freebies started flowing in. We’re talking free champagne, desserts, unlimited Bud Heavies from two Japanese dentists in town for a conference, and plenty of other drinks from kind Chicagoans and out-of-towners.
Get engaged
Party with random strangers
Fly homeThanks to all the friendly people of Chicago Mike and Del's return flight home was full of love and dry heaves from the many, many freebies consumed over the weekend.
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Charlotte 2015
Coming back home as an engaged couple, the city of Atlanta was waiting with open arms to keep the party going. In honor of MK and Del’s recent engagement, the Hawk’s even had a Tinder Night in an attempt to spread the love to all Atlantans and celebrate the upcoming wedding… or something like that.
After visiting with friends and family from Atlanta to Athens, MK and Del were finally beginning to settle back into their normal routine. Wedding planning had kicked off and D’s type A personality self was checking things off the to-do list left and right until one day she received a call from her VP that would shake everything up.
Little did D know that her crazy work ethic would pay off at a time like this and she was offered a promotion on the spot with one condition… to relocate to Charlotte. MK and D quickly jumped at the opportunity to move to North Carolina and, with help from family, the two have already begun preparing for this new chapter in their lives.
In the next few months, MK and D are looking forward to moving to Charlotte and coming home to the city they love to celebrate their wedding with all of you!
Dr. Seuss