Our Story
Matthew and Vanessa met the most romantic way possible: at a committee meeting. (Sexy, we know!)
In 2016, their worlds collided while volunteering in San Antonio’s marketing and advertising scene– Vanessa representing the marketing side through the American Marketing Association, and Matt holding it down for the American Advertising Association. Their official “meet cute” took place at the Hard Rock Café in downtown San Antonio.
They exchanged names and numbers purely for professional reasons, obviously. What followed was months of casual conversations, light texting, and the kind of slow-burn friendship that doesn’t yet realize it’s about to become something much bigger.
Several months later, Vanessa invited Matt to be a guest speaker for a marketing class she was teaching. He showed up extremely prepared–USB in hand, presentation polished, ready to impress a room full of students (and maybe their professor).
After the class, they had plans to grab a drink. However, Vanessa bailed due to sheer exhaustion. So, Matt did what any smart man would do. He waited five minutes and then called her from the car, asking her out for a “proper” date.
Their first real date which was on April 1st, 2017 was at Hotel Emma’s Sternwirth Bar and continued at an underground jazz club called Jazz TX. Since it happened to be on April Fools’ Day—it has become a long-standing, not-so-funny joke that Matt likes to tell people:
“This is the longest-running April Fools’ joke ever.”
Since then, they’ve built a life together filled with family, love, laughter, music, creativity, travel, and just enough debate to keep things interesting. Together, they’ve visited more than 12 countries (depending on who’s counting), countless states, and are on a mission to visit all of the National Parks in the United States–there are over 60!
Between passport stamps, road trips, Michelin-star restaurants, museums, national parks, and everyday life at home, Matt and Vanessa have truly created a partnership rooted in love and adventure. And now, more than nine years later, they’re about to embark on their greatest adventure yet.
So… here’s to saying “April Fools.”