we're getting married!

It was New Years Eve, 2016. Lexi and Arthik had both happened to go to a party hosted by a mutual friend, Arthik showing up with Lexi's friend Justin. Just before the clock struck midnight, magic happened. Justin brought his friend Arthik over, and the rest is history! What followed was a very high school few months filled with ghosting, promposals, and an Instagram hard launch. Arthik decided to ask Lexi to be his girlfriend on May 22nd, 2017. Two weeks before high school graduation, what could go wrong!

As the Alabama football team asks during each football game, you play for four, you stay for four! Arthik and Lexi were triumphant in their long distance challenge over the next four years between Chicago and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Lexi came to visit Arthik every break, and got to enjoy all the amazing food the DePaul Student Center had to offer, and Arthik frequently visited Tuscaloosa, experiencing the magic of a cookout plate. Time flew by faster than a blowout football game, and soon enough they were on their way to graduate, Bachelor's degrees in hand.

It was a miracle, Lexi was coming home! After receiving a scholarship to get her MFA from DePaul, Arthik's alma mater, Lexi moved back to Arlington Heights, and was a frequent guest star in Arthik's Lincoln Park apartment (thanks to Joe, AJ, Josh, and Greg!) After graduation and a year of job hunting, Arthik and Lexi made the big move to Naperville to be closer to Lexi's new job, and they quickly settled into their first apartment together.

Following a week in Italy with Lexi's family, Lexi and Arthik went off on their own to explore Sicily, Lake Como, and Paris. When they arrived in Lake Como, panic began to set in as it was raining their entire stay. Luckily, Arthik worked fast, and moved the engagement boat charter up earlier. The next morning, they set out on a private tour of Lake Como, hoping to see Villa Balbianello, filming location of Star Wars (Lexi's favorite) and James Bond (Arthik's favorite.) Soon enough, the boat pulled up to the villa, and with "Across the Stars" playing, he proposed. It was the easiest yes she ever said. Arthik had arranged everything, from throwing her off the trail by fibbing about the first hotel, to a beautiful candlelit dinner. It was the perfect end to an amazing day.