Chapter 1: Valiants Like most great love stories (at least the ones that we’ve become accustomed to when considering the relationships of many of our close friends) ours starts at Manhattanville College. Alex graduated Mville in 2014 and Ari in 2015. To be clear, there was zero romantic connection between us while we attended college; we simply co-existed in many of the same friends groups. If you ask Ari, her memory of our friendship begins during the spring of her senior year, since Alex loitered around campus after he graduated, hanging out with baseball teammates, especially Jojo (& Alexandra, Ari's childhood best friend who is now married to Jojo)! Chapter 2: Bellingham Ari moved to Bellingham, WA to pursue a Master’s degree and she found a best friend in Taylor, whose family is essentially the Martignettis of the Pacific Northwest — don’t worry, everyone will know Taylor’s whole family by the end of our wedding weekend! Alex got his own apartment in Tuckahoe and worked in Manhattan. We kept in touch sporadically, mainly via text despite the three-hour time difference. Which, in retrospect, worked perfectly considering each of our nighttime routines and sleep habits. We sent each other songs to listen to, talked about our lives, and even worked through some sport psych techniques so Ari could practice them with clients. Chapter 3: Back In The NY Groove When Ari moved back to NY, our friendship quickly shifted into a third and fourth wheel situation with Jojo and Alexandra. The four of us went out for dinner, drinks, and trivia nights in Tuckahoe. One time, we (just Alex and Ari) went out to dinner in Manhattan with our professor from Mville, then a rooftop bar for some post-dinner drinks, and then rode the train back to Westchester together. Things were clearly heating up (at least in Alex's mind)! Chapter 4: The Sauce One weekend, the four of us rented an Airbnb in a random town in upstate NY and on Sunday we made a traditional Italian dinner; we were in charge of the sauce. The two of us proceeded to bicker (flirtatiously), like middle schoolers, over the sauce. Not too long after this weekend adventure, Alex asked Ari out on a date - without Jojo and Alexandra. Our first date was at Fortina in Stamford and we had such a great time together. We talked about everything and nothing, and simply enjoyed each other’s company. We were both so interested in one another, and had the usual first date butterflies despite our pre-existing friendship. We were there for so long that we closed the place down! One of the most memorable things was watching a woman smoking a cigarette outside, dropping it on the ground, and accidentally setting her leg on fire! We couldn’t believe it. Ari (being the kind and genuine person that she is) ran outside to ask the woman if she was alright. The woman was fine and we knew this was a sign that there were SPARKS between us! Chapter 5: And So It Begins For the first few months, we went on many more dates; some typical like coffee, dinner, and the movies. Others, not so typical, like hikes and nerdy study dates at Barnes & Noble. Our first big coming-out-party as a couple was the wedding of Ari’s other childhood best friend, Lia, and her husband Mike. In fact, since that wedding, we have attended 24 more! And our wedding will be the 27th wedding that we will attend together. Now you know how we got here. So, join us as we make this thing official. See you there! (P.S. Alex wrote this entire story!)