Jillian and Justin met for the first time one evening in 2015 at an impromptu dinner hosted by (at that time) newlyweds Ben and Kayla Mayer. Neither remember the date or the month, but only that Ben invited Justin and Kayla invited Jillian, and they were introduced to one another then. 

 

A few years and several dinners at the Mayer's later, Jillian and Justin finally hit it off in August 2017 at a local Iowa bar where they ran into each other one night. The setup was finally right - drinks instead of dinner.

 

And where were Ben and Kayla? Separately, both Jillian and Justin had invited them to go out that night, but the Mayer's declined leaving Jillian and Justin each flying solo.

 

Justin walked Jillian home from the bar (she was visiting Ben and Kayla and staying at their house). He got Jillian's number and a few weeks later, in September, flew out to D.C. to visit her. And the rest, as they say, is history.