Names: Tatum Sample & Cody Scrufari
Year: Tatum is a senior; Cody graduated in the Spring of 2014
Majors: Tatum is an elementary education major; Cody majored in Spanish with an education licensure and minor in teaching English as a second language.
Tatum and Cody have been slowly gaining fame as the couple that met on the UNCW Crushes and Seahawk Stalkers page. Read on to learn more about their engagement and how their Christian faith brought them together.
HC: How exactly did you guys meet? Do you remember the post that started it all?
Tatum saw a post about me (Cody) saying the following, “Cody Scrufari, it is very hard for me to keep my eyes off of you. The way you dress and your passion for Jesus makes me weak at my knees. You definitely know how to treat a lady because it’s obvious through the way you treat all of your friends. Marry me already. ” So she looked me up thinking “why don’t I know him?” when she did, she realized that I was best friends with a girl in her small group. So she added me on Facebook. I was on the phone with one of my best friends at the time and had him look her up because I usually don’t get friend requests from girls as beautiful as Tatum. I then decided to follow her on Twitter and we somehow managed to spark a relationship from there. I met her at church the following Sunday. Please note the original crush poster was one of my friends, so no hearts were crushed when the post caused Tatum and I to spark a relationship.
HC: What was your first date?
Cody didn’t want us to have a typical first date because he thought I deserved more than any basic dinner. It was around finals time so Cody came up with the idea of getting chalk and a bible to go around campus chalking encouraging bible verses. We had so much fun picking verses and getting chalk all over each other. It was super sweet and thoughtful.
HC: What was the proposal method?
I told Cody that I didn’t want or need any type of grand proposal like everyone shares on Facebook, I just wanted something thoughtful and special to us. So he decided to take me on our first date again. We went around campus, in new places that we hadn’t chalked before and wrote new encouraging verses. He was acting a little rushed, and a little flustered after a while, and we decided to go over to the Education Building. We walked the long and pretty way over the bride by Cameron, and just before the bridge, Cody has already chalked out “Tatum, Will you marry me? Song of Solomon 8:6“ (which says: Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD) So, when we got there he stopped and got down on one knee to the side, I read the side walk and was in shock. I always thought I would be prepared for that moment, but there is no way anyone can be. It’s an experience that has so much worth to it, this person is asking me to spend my life with them. I said yes! He even had a sign up all day that said “Shh! It’s a secret!” So no one that knew me would tell me congratulations too soon!
HC: When is the wedding date?
May 30th, 2015!
HC: Any special reason for the props used in your engagement photo? What was the significance of them (the chalk)?
In our engagement photo, you see two packs of chalk, one is off-brand Target and the other is the good stuff, Crayola. After searching target for chalk for an hour Saturday night, I complained about it not being “pretty,” so Cody went out and bought more at another store Sunday afternoon, along with a massive pack to chalk my proposal. When he got down on one knee I had no idea what to do with the chalk at first!
HC: What’s been your most awkward moment as a couple?
We were hanging out for one of the first times at my (Cody’s) apartment in the Landing and I was about to go on a trip for two weeks, so, not wanting to miss an opportunity, I tried to kiss Tatum and she turned me down.
HC: If your relationship was an 80’s rock band, what would it be called?
Chalk and Charm
HC: If you guys were a celebrity couple, who would you be?
We’re going to go with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, but that is more like an aspiration. We do hope to make great impacts on lives like they have though.
HC: Any advice for people that are involved in online dating?
Make sure you have an interactive and public first date. Cody made sure that our first date was personal and let us get to know each other better. He was not going to take me to the movies and to not talk for two hours.
HC: Anything you two would like to add?
From Cody: You never know how you are going to meet the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.
From Tatum: Culture seems to define the way our relationships look, but I encourage you to be different. Make things personal. Our story and our proposal are “cute” because we made it our own (and Jesus made us His own).