Don't ignore someone's flirty Instagram messages, bride-to-be warns

The first time Mack Brown saw Jacqueline Laurean Yates, it was on his friend’s Instagram — and he was instantly captivated. So Brown texted their mutual pal and asked for Yates’s number (before he even knew her name).

While Brown’s dreams were immediately shot down by the mutual friend, that didn’t deter him. He started a social media campaign that included liking Yates’s posts and leaving encouraging comments like “lookin’ good as always” to get her attention. But when those efforts failed to make an impression, he sent her direct messages asking her to get ice cream in order to make his intentions abundantly clear.

So Brown and Yates went on their first date at Cold Stone Creamery, and fittingly enough, the first thing she said to him was pretty chilly. Yates wasn’t shy about letting Brown know her first impression of seeing him IRL, saying, “You look taller on Instagram.” (Side note: He’s 5 feet 8.)

Despite the shade, they hit it off because of how much they have in common, most notably fitness and kettlebells. And while their shared interests are important to Brown, what really attracted him to Yates was her ambition. The fact that she’s always “trying to go further and further in life” inspired Brown to do the same. “Jackie was the support system I needed,” Brown says of starting his own personal fitness studio, Bodies by Mack.

And because of the major part Yates played in helping Brown chase his dreams, he proposed to her in his gym and invited all their loved ones to witness it. “I called everyone — mom, aunts, uncles, friends from out of state, co-workers,” he says.

Yates concedes that Brown “did a good job” when he popped the question. As for Brown, he’s just overjoyed she said yes. “These past few years have been some of the best years of my life. I got a chance to be engaged to my soulmate and my best friend,” he shares.

For Yates, she wants her love story to be a cautionary tale: “My piece of advice for all the ladies out there: Do not sleep on anybody sliding into your DMs — it can be your future husband.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

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