Kristen Allen & Deaushay Watts

On Oct. 31, 2015, Kristen’s and Deaushay’s lives changed forever. Deaushay was browsing on LinkedIn and stumbled upon the beautiful smile and dimples of “Kristen Allen, Doctoral Student.” He knew LinkedIn was for professional networking, and it would be tacky to ask for a date—so he tried a different approach. He considered himself to be pretty intellectual and savvy, but all his brain cells could come up with was simply, “Hello!!! How are you?” Kristen replied, “Hello, I’m doing well.” After a glimmer of hope, Deaushay went back to the drawing board and asked about the benefits of having a master’s degree. He could care less about the answer—he just wanted to start a conversation. She responded with a very long paragraph. Eventually, he asked for Kristen’s phone number and a first date. Almost a month later, they met at Gianmarco’s for their first date. After a few more dates, they decided to fast together, and their admiration for each other turned into a deep love.

The father-daughter dance with Kristen’s dad to the song “As” by Stevie Wonder and the brief 20 minutes after the ceremony where it was just the bride and groom upstairs in the bridal suite. It was the first time they had seen each other all day, and they were officially husband and wife.