Zach Oyebi and Sarah Muller didn’t meet each other with the intentions of ever dating, much less getting engaged.
Oyebi recalls meeting Muller in Martin’s UT Federal Credit Union parking lot in October 2010. Oyebi had just recently returned from a tour in Iraq, and said his friend introduced the two before they went to a party at the Sigma Chi house.
After meeting in the bank parking lot, the couple remained friends for a long time before Oyebi decided to take the next step in their relationship.
“He initiated it,” Muller said. “He wanted to ask me out on a date by myself because we always hung out with friends around. When he asked me to be by myself with him, I thought ‘This is kind of weird,’ but I took the leap, and it got me here.”
Muller said it was strange for Oyebi to ask her out on a date by themselves at first, but he convinced her to go on a lunch date with him.
“He convinced me, and we chose Tony’s as our first date location,” she said. “The funny thing is that Tony’s was still closed, and wasn’t going to open until an hour later. I had class; so, the only place we thought of was McDonald’s. Yes, our first date ended up being at McDonald’s; the date was actually awesome. We always had great conversation; so, the date wasn’t awkward. We learned a lot about each other and ended up hanging out more.”
The couple dated for about a year before Oyebi asked Muller to marry him.
Oyebi says that Muller actually almost ruined his plans for the engagement. Oyebi told her on his way home from Drill one weekend that they had been invited to go eat dinner with Muller’s parents.
Her parents live two hours away from Martin in Millington, Tenn., and Muller didn’t want to make the drive so late in the day just for dinner.
“I was at Drill one weekend, and this is the weekend I was planning on asking her step-dad if I could marry her,” Oyebi said. “I texted her on my way home from Drill, and told her we were going to go eat dinner with her parents. She said she didn’t really want to go in the first place because it was already so late. Then it made it worse because I asked her mom what was for dinner, and she said ‘grilled cheese and tomato bisque.’”
Oyebi said at that point Muller told him she did not want to drive all the way down there for that, and that if he really wanted that for dinner she would just make it for him herself.
“We almost didn’t even go, but then I just told her, ‘I already told them we are on the way, we have to go,’” Oyebi said.
Oyebi says he had asked Muller’s mom for her blessing on their engagement prior to the dinner. However, the engagement came as a complete shock to Muller.
“I was making it difficult … I tend to ruin the moments anyways, so afterwards I was kind of like ‘of course I almost ruined it.’ But, I was shocked, I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Muller said.
Muller recalls the drive back from her parent’s house to Martin. She said she spent the entire time listening to Oyebi on the phone with friends and family.
“He called all of his friends and family to tell them about our engagement and he was on the phone the entire two-hour drive back. I was just listening to him talk the whole time,” Muller recalled with a smile.
The two have been engaged for a year as of Nov. 4 and will be getting married on May 31, 2014. They had planned to be married on July 4, 2014; however, they had to move their date to May.
“We were on vacation too long, and we didn’t get to book our venue in time,” Oyebi said.
Although their original wedding date did not work out, the couple is very excited about getting married in May.
“I was actually excited to move the date because it won’t be as hot outside; July weather is hot and muggy and we plan on having an outdoor wedding. So, it worked out great,” Muller said.
Even though July 4 didn’t work out, the couple is still planning an American-themed wedding.
“We picked the theme for two reasons,” Muller said. “He’s all about America. Anything American, we have it. Our house is decorated in American decorations. Also, I’m from Germany, so I’m a new American citizen, so I’m embracing it too.”
Muller and her family moved from Germany in 2003, and she just officially became a U.S. citizen earlier this year. She says it was a very lengthy process.
Oyebi attributes his patriotism to serving in the U.S. Army and his deployment.
Oyebi has been enlisted for a little over seven years and will continue to serve until 2019. He has served in Iraq, Kuwait and Germany; his deployment lasted about a year. He says he only spent a few months in Kuwait and finished out his time in Iraq.
“There might be a chance in the next two years that I could be deployed again,” Oyebi said.
Muller says she doesn’t like that too much.
While Muller says she doesn’t like knowing he could be deployed, she understands it comes with the relationship. She also knows it won’t be easy to deal with.
“I think I could deal with it, but it’s definitely something hard that I would have to deal with,” she said.
Oyebi and Muller will say their vows at Peaceful Oaks Bed and Breakfast in Jackson, Tenn.
Go to the photo gallery “Soldier plans American-themed wedding” to view more photos of Zach Oyebi and Sarah Muller.
