Clear Cut Couples: Molly and Daniel

Daniel and Molly met through Hinge in March of 2019. They had both downloaded the app not thinking too much about it and neither of them had been on the app more than a week before they matched. But once Daniel messaged her, they talked for a week straight and he came to visit her for their first date a week later. During their conversations, he mentioned that he was not from her area but was within driving distance and would come up to visit for a date.

Daniel drove 3 hours up to the Bay Area to meet Molly for their first date!! They went mini golfing (where she beat him), then went downtown for some pizza! After their dinner, the ice cream place that she wanted to bring him to was closed for the night so they stopped by the grocery store to pick up some ice cream and spoons. They went to Molly’s car to eat the ice cream and continued to hang out with each other and talk about everything they possibly could before the night was over. Because he lived so far away, he got a room in the area to stay the night so that he could just leave in the morning so she dropped him off at the end of the night. The next morning she wasn't sure if he had already driven home or not, so she decided to text him and see if he wanted to get breakfast. He ended up still being around and was packing up to leave when she texted him, so they met up for breakfast before he did his 3 hour drive back home. They have been together ever since, for over 2.5 years!!

They have survived a lot of long distance over the years - Daniel is a Weapons Systems Officer for F-18's in the Navy and he got deployed right as COVID began. They said bye to each other in the beginning of April 2020 and after multiple extensions, he returned home in Mid-February of 2021. They made it through with a lot of emails, 10 minute phone calls, and tears. It was a tough but memorable time for them and they are grateful for how close they are because of it.

Because they live about 3 hours from each other still, they tend to spend weekends all over the place in California. Daniel comes up to the Bay Area (where Molly is from) mostly, but they also find weekends to go down to the LA area to Disneyland, to San Diego area (where he is originally from), to Monterey, Santa Barbara, etc.. They try to make the most out of their weekends together and find fun things to do in different cities around the state when they can. They also fully enjoy doing nothing together and just enjoying the hours that they have together in each other's presence.

Daniel proposed on Sept 3, 2021. Although, he was supposed to propose on August 20, 2021. Because of COVID and so many things in the world being up in the air, he had a few different versions of a proposal that he was considering but decided on a private proposal at a winery followed by a surprise dinner with their families and close friends.

Daniel had originally told Molly that they would do a date night at a restaurant on Aug 20 and then get dessert after. He told her that he was going to keep the restaurant a secret because he wanted to surprise her with which place it was. Then, her sister "randomly" texted asking if they wanted to go to a winery with "free tickets she got from a vendor at work because she was not going to be able to make it". Molly said that she would talk to Daniel. When she did, Daniel said, "Sure! We are already doing a date night, we can add that in there before we go to dinner". Little did Molly know, that was the plan they were going with all along. When Daniel ended up finding out that he got COVID a week before Aug 20, he obviously couldn't come up to see her for their "date night". So, she had just figured that they would move their date night to another time when he would be able to come see her again - no biggie.

But for him and everyone else involved, they all had to scramble to get everything switched to Sept 3rd. They had to ask the venue if they could change the date, he had to find a new photographer, change the dinner reservations, etc. Somehow they all pulled it off without Molly even knowing a thing. Molly texted her sister again letting her know that they couldn't use the winery tickets, but that they would be available to use them Sept 3 if possible. Her sister said that she would "ask her vendor if the tickets would be able to be switched" and that ended up working out (obviously because the tickets were never real)! She told her a few days before the new proposal date that the "vendor said the tickets were changed for Sept 3" and that they would still be able to use them.

Fast forward to Sept 3 - Daniel takes Molly to the winery, they do a tasting (meanwhile her sister and best friend are setting everything up where the proposal is going to happen) and then they decide to walk around the vineyard before they need to leave for dinner. When they started walking around, Daniel brought Molly over to the gazebo area. She thought it looked filled up like it's being used for someone and she told him that they probably weren't allowed over there. He kept telling her it was fine. As they got closer, she started to realize what was happening. She saw everything and he ended up proposing at the gazebo that was set up just for them.

After the proposal and some photos, he drove to dinner which ended up being at a bocce ball/axe throwing venue that serves dinner and drinks. When they walked in, their families and friends were waiting for them! They spent the night surrounded by their closest people and playing games/hanging out together.

The proposal was a complete surprise! Daniel, his family, her family, and friends did an amazing job at keeping the entire plan a secret. Molly was 100% sure that she would have figured it out and known when it was coming so that she would be ready but that was not the case at all. No one slipped up on the story or all the moving parts or acted any different so she was so shocked when it happened.

They would like to get married in Hawaii (her favorite place in the world) and keep it small with their closest people. Congrats you two! We are SO happy for you!