We met at a friend’s housewarming party in 2021. Neither of us really expected anything to come from it—Tyler was living in Hawaii at the time and was back visiting San Francisco for a bit, and Jeanne was dating someone at the time. Our mutual friends introduced us at the party but we didn’t talk much. At the end of the night, we realized we were heading in the same direction, so we shared an Uber. Jeanne asked for Tyler’s number to Venmo him for the ride, but he told her not to worry about it. 

Fast forward to 2022—Tyler moved back to SF after COVID, and we ended up in the same church community. We were both on the worship team, and started seeing each other around more—at rehearsals, church stuff, and group hangouts. Still, it was all just friendly. We were both dating other people at the time, and on our own journeys.

What we didn’t know was that our friends were already starting to talk. Apparently, people (everyone) thought we’d be a good match, but we were totally oblivious.

Over time, we both ended up single and started to realize we had feelings for each other. We were already close friends by then, and hanging out just felt easy. One night, we went to a John Mayer concert with a group, and afterward, Tyler walked Jeanne home. And then he kept walking her home after other events that week. Jeanne remembers thinking, “Wait... why does he keep doing this?” (very oblivious, I know).

Fast forward again to London in 2023. A bunch of our friends were heading to a conference there, and both of us decided—pretty last minute—to join the trip. Tyler found out Jeanne was on a different flight and texted her: “Hey, you should move to my flight. I have United Silver and can get you a free checked bag.” (Somehow, that actually worked.)

We ended up sitting next to each other the whole time, just talking, watching movies, and playing games. Somehow that 10 hour flight felt very short :) We both realized how easy it was and how much we liked spending time together. When we got to London, we were the first to arrive, and couldn’t check into our places yet. So we spent the whole day wandering the city together—hopping into pubs, walking through Christmas-lit streets, finding coffee shops. It wasn’t a date, but it definitely felt like a little adventure.

The rest of the week, we were with our group of friends, but by the end of the trip, everyone noticed us sitting next to each other all the time and talking as we walked through the city, and they all were asking us, “So... what’s going on?”

Jeanne went back home after London and Tyler extended his trip to Paris with a few of our friends, when a friend basically confronted him: “You need to ask her out, she’s anxious and doesn’t know what’s going on” So he asked her out to dinner when they were both back home.

Once we got home, we went on our first date after Thanksgiving, and the rest is history. It’s felt so easy, sweet, and we are both so grateful to have built our relationship off our friendship. Now, we’re engaged and getting married in six months! We can’t wait to celebrate with all of our friends and family!!