Katie Heidkamp, John Martin Eubanks to wed
Together with their families, Katharine Heidkamp and John Martin Eubanks are pleased to announce their engagement.
The bride-elect, a resident of Mount Pleasant, is the daughter of Michael and Christine Heidkamp of Ballentine.
She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Walter G. Heidkamp of Chicago and the late Mr. Walter G. Heidkamp and the late Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle T. Thompson Jr. of Forest Acres.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, with minors in journalism and mass communications and public relations and advertising. She is employed with a technology user group as an event coordinator and community manager, planning meetings to help people in the information technology industry network and grow professionally.
The bridegroom-elect, a resident of Mount Pleasant, is the son of Martin Lenon Eubanks and Karen Kelly Eubanks of Lexington and the late Mrs. Debra Wiggins Eubanks.
He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Johnny M. Eubanks of Lexington and the late Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson D. Wiggins of Eutawville.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in packaging science from Clemson University. He is employed with a packaging distributor in the Charleston area as a packaging engineer and sales representative.
The couple plan an April wedding in Columbia.
In their own words
Q: How did you meet?
Katie: I started working for the Department of Agriculture when I was a sophomore at USC. My roles at SCDA changed over the years from an event planning intern, to an international trade intern, to a marketing intern, eventually taking a full-time position in the marketing department. Somewhere along this journey with SCDA, my boss decided I should meet his handsome (and single) son. I would just blush and try to ignore him when he would bring it up. My boss kept on with his matchmaking ways for several months until one summer day he was talking to his son on the phone and brought it to my desk and left me to talk to him. I was so embarrassed! This was the first time I had ever talked to John Martin.
His first words to me were, “We have cold beer and an extra seat on the boat if you want to come join us on Lake Hartwell.” I just laughed and said, “Wish I could, but I am working,” and quickly gave the phone back to my boss.
A few months passed, and I got a text from John Martin. Still not exactly sure who gave him my number, but so very glad they did! It was a very long, sweet, and awkward text… It was an unusual situation to be set up by your boss and dad, but we tried it anyways. We decided to meet for dinner at Liberty Tap Room in Columbia. I can still remember what he was wearing and our conversations that flowed so smoothly. We never ran out of things to talk about! We spent the rest of our senior years going back and forth between Clemson and USC to visit one another. Lots of fun football games, lake days, family time and everything in between! We fell in love! So happy to have found a man that knows and loves the Lord and is happy to share that love with others. He makes me the most confident and happy version of myself and I couldn’t be more thankful that he is all mine forever!
John Martin: The first time I talked to Katie on the phone, I don’t remember quite as well as Katie and Daddy do. I was hanging out on the lake when my daddy called me. He said I needed to talk to someone; the only thing I said was, “We got plenty of room on the boat and plenty of beer.” Little did I know I was talking to my future wife. My daddy gave me her number, and we met for dinner one night in Columbia while I was still a senior at Clemson. I texted awkwardly to meet up and she agreed (probably bribed).
We met at Liberty in the Vista for dinner. I walked in early and waited for her to arrive. When she walked in, I knew it was her. I’d never seen her before this moment, but I knew it was her. She was wearing a cute top with jeans and had her toenails painted up pretty. I think they were orange! I introduced myself and remember the prettiest, sweetest smile from her. My daddy did well! It was very natural from the start, and I didn’t have to worry about being anything but myself. I didn’t even have to worry about the Copenhagen in my teeth or the beer on my breath (I was nervous and had a few before).
We had dinner and it was great. She had salmon and I had the mahi. I remember looking across the table at her thinking about how beautiful and kind she was. Right before my eyes, I was hook, line, and sinkered. I loved her then and knew I would love her forever. She changed me and taught me that love is just a word until you have someone that gives it meaning.
Q: When did you know your fiance was “the one”?
A: Day 1.
Q: Tell us about the proposal.
A: John Martin and I love traveling to the mountains and have traveled to various mountain towns every year since we met. This year was like all the rest – we packed up and headed toward Lake Jocassee in Salem, South Carolina! John Martin was SO excited about this trip and couldn’t stop talking about all the fish we were going to catch. His Amazon cart was filled with a million new fishing lures, a new depth finder, and some other fishing related items. He couldn’t wait! I was excited, too – fishing with John Martin is one of my most favorite things to do.
The day we got there, JM and I went around marking fishing spots and getting a feel for the lake. The next morning, we got up early and began our fishing adventure for lake trout and small-mouth bass. We didn’t catch much. He would appreciate me mentioning that the lake water levels were down 10 feet, which could have been the reason for our struggles.
I was starting to feel bad for JM – he had been so excited about the fishing, and we weren’t having much luck. Around lunchtime, JM decided we should take a break from fishing and head to check out some waterfalls. As we got close to one of the waterfalls, JM said his depth finder was blowing up with fish and we had to stop and try to catch them. He tied on a new lure for me that I had not seen before. He tossed it out and just told me to wind it in. I did a couple times, and JM said I had some grass on my hook and needed to get it off. I began beating the lure into the water to shake off the grass. JM was getting flustered and said, “No, no, no, bring it up and take it off with your hands.”
I brought it up into the boat. There wasn’t any grass on it, and I noticed there was something engraved into the metal spoon-shaped fishing lure. It said, “You’re my best catch, marry me?” I turned around and JM was on one knee with a beautiful diamond ring.
I was so surprised that this whole time, I just thought we were fishing, but he was actually planning our proposal and life together. I know he must have been scared as I was flailing the lure around to get grass off of it. He mentioned he would have had to go to “plan B, if that thing flew off or got hung on a log.”
Next thing I know, JM is bringing out Champagne and celebratory beers that have customized labels that say “Future Mr. and Mrs. Eubanks” on them. He did a great job of planning and surprising me. By this point, we were right next to some waterfalls, where we got out to drink champagne and enjoy the moment.
This story was originally published March 4, 2018 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Katie Heidkamp, John Martin Eubanks to wed."