Andrew and Allie met at a music festival in Gainesville, Florida called The Fest in October 2011. Andrew introduced himself on University Avenue and asked Allie if she would like to watch some bands perform with him. It was the last night of the three-day festival and they spent the final hours of it together.
After exchanging phone numbers and returning to their respective homes, they began to chat very regularly. It was clear they had a very strong connection and they began a friendship that lasted 6 months, culminating in Allie’s first trip out of the United States in May 2012 - to see Andrew.
After a great trip, Allie returned home, but they were both depressed. They determined that even though they liked each other very much, they could not sustain this kind of relationship. Neither of them made enough money to afford the back and forth trips.. Their contact died down and eventually, they lost touch completely.
Andrew and Allie both continued to go to Gainesville, FL every year for The Fest but beyond seeing each other occasionally in passing, they did not communicate. It wasn't until 2016, at FEST 15, that they had their very first conversation in four years. The chat was brief but helped open the doors for the rekindling of their friendship in 2017.
In June 2017, Andrew booked a flight out to LA to see Allie - his first trip to the West Coast - and they made their relationship “official” on July 11, 2017.
Between September 2017 and September 2018, Andrew and Allie have made a total of 6 trips - taking turns flying to one another.
As each trip confirmed and solidified just how strongly they felt about each other, they began to think about the future. They realized as early as summer 2017 that they weren’t dealing with any ordinary relationship - neither of them had ever used the word ‘soulmate’ before but knew instinctively that they were IT for each other. They wanted to get engaged, get married, and spend the rest of their lives together.
In June 2018, Allie made her second trip to England since their relationship began. While the original purpose of this trip was to attend his sister Laura’s wedding, they both knew that Andrew planned to propose. And he did!
On June 17, 2018 Andrew proposed to Allie outside of York Minster at night. It was a beautiful evening that neither of them will ever forget.
The next step after deciding they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together on an emotional level was to figure out how to actually be physically with each other all the time (is 'all the time' too much?? ...nahhh). So these days, Allie and Andrew are working on a K-1 Fiance Visa for him to move to the US.
