Our story starts where it didn’t, at The University of Iowa. For two years Allie and I were brushing shoulders in Summit, Liner, Tini’s, etc., and miraculously managed to never meet. Against all odds, with having countless mutual friends paired with the fact that we were ballin’ on a budget at the same bars (shoutout Dollar U’s Tuesdays and Thursdays) we were never acquainted.  Fast forward to 2018.

Via our mutual Cary, IL connections, we ended up at the same Halloween party; naturally, I was dressed as Mermaid Man from Spongebob and she was dressed as Garth from Wayne’s World. She was the best-looking Garth I had ever seen, and after a few exchanged words and more than a few beers we both went our separate ways, seemingly never to see each other again. That was until a few weeks later when we bumped into each other at the legendary Trader Todd’s karaoke bar where I sang “All Star” by Smash Mouth, and seemingly crushed it because after that we exchanged numbers and started talking. After talking for less than two days I informed Allie that I was moving to Nashville, Tennessee to start a new job for the next 14 months, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

But like all good Rom-Coms, this story has a happy ending. We continued talking through the move and on New Year’s Eve, with the push from some friends, we agreed that even though we were going to be long-distance, we wanted this to continue. Any distance was worth it for Allie. While apart we learned to time up our visits so we never went more than a few weeks at a time without seeing each other. We learned a lot about each other in those 14 months and when it was all said and done I moved back to Chicago and we were together once again.

Years went on and as the heart grew fonder, so did the certainty of the future of our relationship; and that’s when I decided it was time to pop the question. On a beautiful day in April, I took Allie to Lincoln Park for a walk as we previously had pulled a date stick I had made from the jar to tour the Park. As we got to the bridge and the setting sun glistened on her face I got on one knee and asked the question I had been waiting for since we first met, “Will You Marry Me?”. Luckily, she said yes and the rest is history. We’re so excited to continue our journey and celebrate in California with all our family and friends who have been with us every step of the way!

Written by Garrett