Sisters Amy and Kate Griffin have spent their entire lives joking about who would get engaged first. It wasn’t until recently that a lifelong joke became an unexpected twist of fate.
Amy, 31, and Kate, 29, tell TODAY.com they have been best friends since they were little because of a close family dynamic with their parents.
“I think we’ve just always had like a really good friendship,” Kate says. “Amy’s always been the older sister, so I’ve always gone to her for advice and seen her do everything first, so I either follow or do the opposite depending on the outcome.”
Amy resides in Melbourne, Australia, where she and Kate grew up. Meanwhile, Kate moved away from Melbourne to Western Australia to live near the beach and warmer weather.
Being 22 months apart in age, the Griffin sisters have experienced growing up together and watching each other find their soulmates.
Amy has known her 40-year-old partner, Stephen Duvnjak, for the past six years and have been dating for nearly four years.
Kate met her partner, Patrick “Paddy” Turnbull, when the two were both 17. Since they have been together for 11 years, Amy says the Griffin family was anxiously awaiting the day Paddy got down on one knee.
“I think Mum was sending a few text messages, being like, ‘What’s going on, Paddy? Why are you waiting for so long?”’ Amy recalls.
On Valentine’s Day, Paddy proposed to Kate on the beach, surrounded by close friends. The group then went to lunch to celebrate and Kate called to share the news with her sister.
Kate Griffin got engaged to Paddy Turnbull at the beach on Valentine’s Day.Courtesy Kate Griffin
“I get there, I call Amy, she doesn’t answer,” Kate says. “That’s in the time she’s like walking to her dinner. Then she calls me back, but I’m on the phone to one of my other best friends.”
If Amy had picked up Kate’s initial call, the following events would have had an entirely different outcome, the sisters say.
During the game of phone tag, Stephen left the Italian restaurant where the two were sitting to “go to the bathroom.” He was actually buying a massive flower bouquet at the shop next door. Meanwhile, his parents had dropped off the ring. It was all in preparation to get down on one knee for Amy.
Following the engagement, Amy called her parents, who knew Stephen was going to propose.
After the excitement, her parents asked, “Have you spoken to Kate?” knowing Kate had some exciting news to share, too.
Amy Griffin, with partner Stephen Duvnjak, shows off her engagment ring.Courtesy Amy Griffin
Kate and Amy were finally able to reach each other, and the rest is history.
At first, Kate says she tried to play it cool.
“I didn’t want to just like, show [my ring] straight away,” Kate says. “So that’s why I was just like, ‘Hey!’ And then, I could see Amy was out for dinner.”
After seeing her sister’s ring, Amy immediately put up her hand to show hers, too.
“And we both had the exact same reaction,” Kate says. “I was so shocked that it had happened on the same day.”
The sisters were finally able to debrief their engagement stories together.
“It’s just so beautiful that we’re able to have that for a keepsake,” Amy says. “That’s a moment that obviously we’ll have forever, which is great.”
Kate recorded her FaceTime call with Amy, which she posted on TikTok and went viral with 7.3 million views and 1.7 million likes.
Social media had a field day with the video, especially poking fun at how their father is doing.
“I know your dad is STRESSED 😂,” one user commented.
Kate and Amy happily gave an update on their father’s well-being.
“The funniest thing about that is they’re all saying that and Mum is sending us photos of her and Dad on holiday and Dad’s in a pool with like two beers,” Kate laughs.
The happy couples are still taking in all excitement from the dual-engagement. For now, they are enjoying their shared engaged era with no plans for a “Bride Wars” remake.
“We’re sisters, but we’re very different,” Kate says. “We have similar personalities, but we like different things, so I don’t think a double wedding could occur because we would have very different tastes.”