15 Dec Kalie + Dakota | Engagement
It’s finally here! Tomorrow, Dakota and Kalie will tie the knot and I am so excited to see this wedding come together. These two love birds have been together since their days at Hoover High School and yes, Dakota was on the football team and Kalie was his cheerleader. I seriously cannot take it… they are so precious! I adore their engagement session shot by the super talented David Boyd and hope you enjoy their little Q&A below.
How/where did you meet and what did you do on your first date? Give us all the details…
Dakota and I actually grew up in the same town, and we went to the same middle school and high school! All throughout our time in grade school, we hung out with different friend groups, and never really crossed paths. I was very involved in gymnastics growing up, and never had time for boys 🙂
The summer going into our junior year of high school, Dakota started hanging out with my friend group. I didn’t really get along with him initially, but he was persistent and pursued me. I am so happy he was so persistent because I got to see a side of him that I never knew before; I side that I loved and wanted to get to know more of.
Around August of 2010, Dakota asked me to the junior homecoming dance! I was honestly so thrilled and started to finally have a crush on him. He had asked me to be his girlfriend multiple times, and I feel bad I kept saying no. But, I was a young high school girl and wasn’t sure if he truly liked me.
On September 22nd, 2010, Dakota asked me to go to breakfast at McDonald’s before school. That was the place we officially became girlfriend and boyfriend! It’s so funny looking back because technically our first date was at McDonald’s, but honestly, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Describe your dream date
Our favorite restaurant is Firebirds, so I think our dream date would involve having dinner there at some point. Maybe start off the day making breakfast together, then go to play tennis after that. Then go to Firebirds and finish the night off with a nice movie and a sweet tasty dessert!
Do you have a favorite movie or song?
We are kids at heart and love movies that are animated! Mr. Harry, Dakota’s dad actually says we are like 12 year olds at heart, which we think is a huge compliment. Our favorites would have to be Wreck it Ralph, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and Despicable Me.
We finally decided after our 5th year of dating that our song was “Tenerife Sea” by Ed Sheeran! Throughout our years of dating, we just never found a song that spoke to us, but then Ed came along and the rest is history.
What guilty pleasure do you share?
We have the biggest sweet tooth known to man! Seriously, it is so bad. Everytime we go to a nice date night dinner, it never fails that we get dessert. We even bought us a kitchen aid mixer with some of our wedding gift money so we can make some tasty treats once we are married!
Tell us all about the proposal… anything go not as planned or was it completely perfect?
The proposal went according to plan, for the most part. The plan was for us to go eat breakfast at around 10, and since Kalie tends to run late I figured we wouldn’t leave until 10:15, but she was ready to go by 9:30. This meant her friends had to hurry and get the engagement party stuff set up. She was under the impression that her friends were setting up a surprise party for me, but the surprise was that the party was actually an engagement party for us.
The other thing that went wrong was I accidently held the ring upside down. This was kind of awkward since the box had a light that shined on the ring, which meant the light shined up into Kalie’s face instead of down on the ring like it was supposed to. It was funny because it was typical me. We laugh about that still to this day.
What do the two of you like to do together when you aren’t working?
We like to bowl, play tennis, watch movies, cook together, dance, really anything together we like to do! We just enjoy spending time together. Not only because we just enjoy each other and are like playmates, but we spent 4 years apart at separate colleges. We did actually make Kalie’s mom go buy us shoots and ladders when we first started dating because we are so competitive, and we might have pulled our Hungry Hungry Hippos a couple of weeks ago 🙂
Any fur babies? If so, what are their names?
Currently, we do not have any fur babies, but will hopefully have one coming on the way soon! We have already named her Lula, after that original owner of the Ryman in Nashville.
Anything else fun you want to share about your story?
Our story is so special because it has truly been an example of how God knows what is best for us and how his will for our lives is higher and better than anything we can ever imagine. Each of us is a better person because we challenge each other to be the person God has called us to be. We each believe that God has put us together as husband and wife for a reason, and that is to bring His kingdom glory through our marriage. We are so excited to be married after dating for almost 6 and a half years.
How did you know Dakota/Kalie was the one? Tell me more about why he/she has your heart. It could be something that happened to solidify that in your mind and heart at some point or just how he/she makes you feel all the time.
She said: Man, I would write a novel on what I love about Raven Dakota Daniel. But, if I have to keep it short, I had two times that I knew Dakota was the one. One was a time where I was like, “wow, I could really see myself marrying this guy” and the other being, “wow, I have to marry this guy!”
The first time I knew that my relationship with Dakota was something special was the summer going into my senior year of high school in 2011. I was a cheerleader at Hoover High School and we had gone to cheer camp at the University of Alabama….War Eagle, though!! At the end of camp, we had a day where family and friends could come watch the dances and cheers we learned at camp. I wasn’t able to talk to Dakota hardly during the week, so I was so excited that he wanted to come watch me cheer. All I remember is that after I was done, the only person I wanted to see was him. Not my mom, not my dad, but Dakota. My mom even jokes with me now and says that was when she knew I really liked this guy. It meant so much to me that he would come and support me in something I loved to do. That is one of the many things I love about Dakota. He has been my biggest supporter and encourager since we started dating our junior year of high school. He knows how to lift me up when I am having a tough day and challenges me to be the woman God has called me to be. He is honestly my best friend and I love spending time with him.
The second time I knew I had to marry this guy was my senior year of college in 2015. I started wondering to myself if I could imagine life without this man, and I honestly couldn’t. He was the man I wanted to grow old with, have my children with, enjoy life with, and further the kingdom of God with. He was the one. Dakota is my best friend and a person that makes me laugh more than anyone I have ever known. He is a great spiritual leader and has helped me in my walk with Christ. He understands my love language and makes me feel so appreciated and loved. It would be an understatement if I said I am so ready to be married to him!
