Sierra: We met in 2017 at Emory University in Atlanta, where we were both in the same Master of Public Health program. In preparation for the new phase of my professional education, the first thing I did, of course, was to look through our cohort's Facebook group to scope out the men. Look...public health is a very woman-dominated field, so I wasn't sure I'd find any men there at all. Fortunately, I saw exactly one guy in the group, and he was cute and had an artsy travel photo for his profile pic, so I took this as a good sign. A month or so into school, our friend (and future bridesmaid!) Mackenzie invited another classmate and me to get drinks after class one day. Seconds before walking in, she confessed it was actually a birthday dinner that she didn't want to go to alone. She had also elected not to tell the people at the dinner that we would be coming, which is honestly an incredible move. It turned out to be a joint birthday dinner for another classmate and the cute boy from Facebook, who if you haven't guessed by now, was Alan. (Bonus fact: it was at this same dinner that I met the future Best Man, Teg, which is even more reason to follow Mackenzie's lead and crash more parties.) From that point on, Alan and I were fortunate enough to be part of the same tight-knit friend group that is still going strong to this day. Over the next two years of our program, I got to know Alan as a great friend, and if that's as far as our relationship ever went, I would still feel lucky. I was always drawn to him, and anyone who knows him will understand why. He has a calm, welcoming energy that just makes you want to be around him. He comes off as a nonchalant, cool guy, until you actually spend time with him and realize how silly he can be, which makes him even cooler. He is deeply loyal and cares about nurturing his relationships with his friends and family. He's always put his best into everything he does, from small things like leading the intermural soccer team and doing well in his classes, to bigger things like taking initiative in his job and planning an incredible proposal (a personal favorite of mine). I could go on, but there's a word limit on these things, so I'll move on! Once we graduated in 2019 and Alan knew he'd be staying in Atlanta, at some point our brains finally caught up with us and we started dating. We've done so much together -- class projects, late nights studying, weekends out with friends, music festivals, weddings, hiking, swimming, traveling, binging endless television, doing absolutely nothing at all... Even though a lot of these memories were made since we became a couple, he never stopped being my friend. I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days and my life with one of my best friends, who I also happen to love. I highly recommend it.

Alan: If you know Sierra, you know she has an immaculate voice and deep love for singing. You will probably catch her humming her favorite song or singing a showtune from Wicked. When we first started dating, she casually mentioned that she'd love to be serenaded, and I kept her wish in my head, knowing that I could sometime in the future do my best to make this a reality. Fast forward to 2024, and I'd decided to take the leap and propose to Sierra. I knew I wanted to make this moment special, so I decided that it might be time to pull out the big boy serenade card which I had been keeping close to my chest for 5 years. I by no means have a good voice but I can at least keep a tune. I also grew up playing piano, so I at least had a foundation to limit the likelihood that this would be a cringe worthy proposal, and hopefully if all goes well, ensure that she would say yes. With the help of our good friend Anna Panu, we began laying the groundwork for the proposal. I decided to sing her a song by one of Sierra and I's favorite artists, Maggie Rogers called "Say It". Whenever I hear this song, I get caught up thinking about Sierra, which is funny because the song's lyrics are a bit sad, and this does not reflect how I feel about her at all. So, I made the effort to change the lyrics of the song to something that better represented my feelings towards her. Finally, the day had come to put my plan into action. Picture this, a warm and sunny May afternoon in Georgia in Sierra's family's backyard. My parents and Sierra's best friend Farha had flown in earlier that week for the proposal, and I invited close friends to attend and had them all hide inside the house. I setup my keyboard and we decorated the backyard with a variety of candles and photos of Sierra and me. My close friends Blair, T.J, and Teg were there to provide me with a last-minute pep talk. While this was all happening, Anna was hard at work distracting Sierra, ensuring that she was both dressed for the occasion, while also being nowhere near the house for setup. At about 6PM, I received a text from Anna saying that Sierra had just arrived, and she would be opening up the gate to the back yard in t-minus 1 minute. Everyone outside quickly rushed into the house and peered through closed shutters to get a glimpse of the proposal. As I was standing on the opposite side of the yard, and I watched Sierra slowly open the large, white fenced door to the backyard. See the gallery on our website for her reaction. Instead of writing out what happened, you can head over to our gallery and check out a video of the proposal. P.S, sorry for the poor sound, but it may be for the best :D