Bailey Peyton and Samuel Scaman had their first date in the middle of the Denver International Airport. The two met on the online dating website called “OK Cupid.”
Scaman, a pilot, was leaving for a couple of days, and Peyton was returning from a trip. They had been chatting for a while and wanted to meet face to face.
The young couple grabbed dinner in one of the restaurants at the airport. Before they went their separate ways, the two shared their first kiss, “and the rest is history,” says Peyton.
Peyton is a plus size model and her career is taking off; between photoshoots and Instagram Q+A’s, she is always on the go.
Growing up, Peyton knew she was bigger than most of the girls her age. She thought her size would have an influence on her dating life, but realized it was her thinking that influenced it more.
“I would definitely say it affected dating for me, but I also think it was a matter of how I thought men thought about me and how I was feeling about myself,” she says. “That combination obviously made for a really negative environment.”
She recalls a time at Target when she was uncomfortable saying her size out loud to Scaman. “I didn't want to tell him what size I wore,” says Peyton. “It wasn't because he made me feel uncomfortable or anything. That thought was mine.”
As for Scaman, when he thought about the woman he would marry, he imagined a shorter, smaller woman.
“I guess I surprised myself that I was so accepting of the whole package as opposed to like thinking about the size versus the personality or whatever,” Scaman says.
“She's just immediately full of life, easy to talk to, big personality. She can walk in any room and make a friend. It was just us and that was really cool to see. There was no awkward small talk. It was just like, this is us. This is cool.”
The connection the two had went beyond size and height. “We're best friends, like I love Sam as my husband and I love him for a million things, but like we have this very strong foundation of friendship,” says Peyton. “We always talk about how it’s a huge part of what makes us successful.”
They both agree that they knew right away they were the ones for each other. A little under two years, Scaman decided to propose on a cruise. It was May of 2017 when he got down on one knee and surprised Peyton.
“When he popped the question, for the next couple days, it was just the two of us that knew and that was really special,” says Peyton. “I'll never forget, like, sitting on the back of the boat. We popped a bottle of champagne and no one in the world knew but us and that was really a very special time to embrace it together.”
The time had come for Peyton to get a wedding dress. She found a modified ballgown that she still loves to this day, but she admits she wasn’t really accepting of her size at that moment.
“Had I been as comfortable as I am now, I might have gotten like a reception dress that was like super curve hugging because nowadays I love to wear fitted stuff and I love to show off my figure as an hourglass,” she says.
Scaman jumps back when she makes that comment, because the woman he fell in love with has lots of confidence, and that is what he was attracted to. He says body image and size have never been something they’ve discussed. He just pictures a “beautiful, confident woman.”
He looks over at her and says, “I thought you picked that dress because it was easier to dance in.”
After almost two years of marriage, the couple says they still receive compliments about how happy they look together, but Scaman says he sometimes thinks those compliments are not as genuine as they seem.
“I wonder if some of it is because it’s a short little dude with a curvy girl,” he says. “Our world's not progressive enough yet, but I think people are at least smart enough not to be outwardly rude most of the time.”
One of the quotes Peyton lives by is: “not all epic love stories are one size fits all.” The couple agrees that there isn’t enough representation of not just plus size people, but regular people as well.
“I do think just being a woman is hard,” says Peyton. “It's always going to be fricking different for women.” The two know that work needs to be done in society to make sure that one day Peyton will be known as a model and not a “curve model.”
“He said to me a while back, ‘I know you look forward to the day where you're like essentially replaceable or like irrelevant,’ and he and I were like, ‘Damn, that is a really powerful statement,’ because yes I do,” she says.
“If I'm irrelevant that means that there was enough change made where I'm not this thing that needs to be talked about anymore.”