Our Story
Hello and welcome friends and family! I realize that while everyone here knows Kalia and I, not everyone knows the story of how we met, which I believe is kind of comical and worth hearing for those interested in some Matthew & Kalia lore!
Kalia and I first met on July 3rd, 2021 at a moving out party for our mutual friend Cooper. Earlier in the day I had been telling Cooper about this Groupon you could get for a flight at Terrapin Brewery that came with a free beer glass. Later in the night, he yells at me from across the room, "Hey! This girl does the Groupon too!" And that's how I first met Kalia! It was love at first Groupon.
We got to talking that night and she asked me if I was seeing anyone. I told her I wasn't and asked how tall she was . She said she was 5' 10". I said that was a good height and we arranged for a date the very next week!
Kalia and I were both living in Athens at the time and spent much of July hanging hanging out together and getting to know each other. I was unemployed and she was working at a horse farm right outside the loop called Silverthorn. In late July, she actually moved into an apartment on-site at Silverthorn. We spent a lot of really sweet time there that fall getting to know one another, walking the pastures with her standard poodle of seven years, Cleo.
Eventually she got a job at the Athens food bank and I got a job at Power Partners in Athens, so we were both in the same city for a bit longer! Then Kalia got a new job in Atlanta and so we did the long-distance Atlanta-Athens thing for about a year until I got a new job and moved to the Big Apple of the South where we once again lived in the same city.
Around year three of our knowing each other we began to discuss getting married and what that would look like. We were planning on taking a trip to Japan that fall and I learned from some of her friends that she believed I would ask her to marry me over there; however, I had actually always pictured asking her at Silverthorn farm. We spent a lot of our early moments there and it is a place that means a lot to the both of us. So, once I had acquired a ring, I hatched a plan in collaboration with my sisters Katherine and Elizabeth to get Kalia to Silverthorn so I could ask her to marry me. My initial idea was just that Katherine (who lives in Athens with her husband Jake) wanted to have us over for dinner and I would make a "wrong turn" and take her to Silverthorn on the way. The series of wrong turns required to end up at Silverthorn when navigating to Katherine's house are... unlikely, but Elizabeth is smarter than me and came up with the idea to invite us to a house viewing right next to Silverthorn, requiring only one wrong turn. Elizabeth and her husband Lake were already looking for houses in the Athens area, so this alibi made a lot more sense. Thanks Elizabeth!
So, on November 3rd, 2024, I drove Kalia and myself to Athens to go "look at a house", which, of course, resulted in our arriving at Silverthorn. I asked her if she wanted to get out and walk around, which she agreed to and made a b-line for one the horses she used to take care of, Exo. There was a particular spot on the farm that the photographer and I had agreed on, so once I got her over from Exo to the spot, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said yes!
So, here I am on July 13th, 2025, writing this piece to go on our wedding site! I am immensely grateful to have met Kalia, the love of my life, and for the privilege of spending the rest of our lives together. And speaking for the both of us, we are immensely grateful for the love and support of you, our friends and family who have raised us and been there for us throughout our lives. We can't wait to celebrate with you on October 25th!