Our Story

A smiling man and woman standing outdoors near a river with mountains in the background during sunset. The man is wearing a checkered shirt and khaki pants, holding a soda can. The woman is wearing a blue dress with a leaf pattern, holding some jewelry and a brown purse.
A smiling man and woman taking a selfie outdoors with a snowy landscape and mountains in the background.
A smiling woman in a yellow dress and a smiling man in a black tuxedo with a patterned tie taking a selfie at a formal event.
Two smiling skiers, a woman in a yellow jacket and a man in a black jacket, wearing helmets and ski goggles, standing inside a ski lift cabin with snowy mountains visible in the background.
A couple sitting on a rock by the beach at sunset, with blue chairs and a striped towel nearby, looking at a golden retriever dog.

Mary Charles grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and Ted grew up in Piedmont, California — two places that don’t naturally overlap.

Ted followed his passion for fishing and skiing to Montana State University, where he met Mary Charles’ cousin, Thompson, as a freshman. Several years later, Thompson convinced Mary Charles’ dad, Matt, to join him in Bozeman for a fishing trip. Thompson recruited Ted, an old friend, as their local fishing guide.

When Matt offered to pay Ted for the day of guided fishing, he declined. Ted explained, they were “friends.” At the end of the trip, Matt let Ted know he had a standing invitation to his duck camp in Alabama.

A few years later, Ted took him up on it.

Ted arrived at Mary Charles’ family farm prepared for a long weekend with Thompson and their friend Will, unaware Matt had a daughter or Thompson had a cousin. That weekend, Mary Charles and Ted went duck hunting together, and Ted still likes to brag they “met in a duck blind.”

What followed was long distance, a lot of back-and-forth travel, and steady persistence (largely from Ted.) In December of 2024, Mary Charles moved to Bozeman, and the rest unfolded from there.

With love, from Big Sky Country