Mary Alex first heard about JT the night before Thanksgiving. During a late-night sleepover, sometime around 2 a.m., Candace casually suggested that she knew someone Mary Alex needed to meet. Without missing a beat, Candace texted JT right then and there to tell him she had the perfect girl for him. To no one's surprise, there was no reply until the next day.

Once Candace made it back to Savannah, she got to work playing matchmaker. A few weeks later, while sitting in a booth at Bar Julian, she gave JT Mary Alex's number. He reached out, and they planned a date for a couple of weeks later that included dinner followed by an end-of-semester party. What Mary Alex didn't realize was that she would be meeting JT's entire medical school class... on their very first date. Luckily, the night couldn't have gone better.

A few weeks later, they met again in Valdosta over Christmas break. This time, the tables turned, and JT met Mary Alex's entire family on just their second date... much to her initial embarrassment. Thankfully, he fit right in.

Although they grew up in neighboring South Georgia towns, Mary Alex and John Tyler had somehow never crossed paths. Looking back, though, they realize their lives had been intertwined for years through countless "invisible strings." JT attended nursing school with Jamie, who would later become his future sister-in-law. He was lab partners with Emma, one of Mary Alex's childhood friends, before he started medical school and she began physician assistant school. He grew up just a few houses down from Ben Murray, whom Mary Alex met in high school through Y-Club. Mary Alex and JT even narrowly missed each other at Youth Assembly. On top of that, Candace worked alongside JT as a nurse while Mary Alex grew up next door to David, who would later become one of JT's medical school classmates. Somehow, the right people kept crossing their paths until the timing was finally right for them to meet.

The beginning of their relationship included plenty of miles. From Macon to Gainesville and eventually Savannah, they learned how to love each other across long drives, busy schedules, and countless calls. Together they've celebrated graduations, survived bar prep and medical school, moved more boxes than they care to count, explored new cities, cheered each other through every milestone, and made memories that have become some of their favorites.

Their story came full circle on a beautiful morning in Savannah when JT proposed to Mary Alex at the Telfair Academy Museum. What began with a late-night text from a determined matchmaker led to one unforgettable question and a very happy "yes."