It was a fateful day on the internet when, impressed by his dashing good looks and hilarious profile, Allison reached out to Mark. After appreciating the adorable elephant friend in her picture and cuter redhead, Mark responded back quickly. Over the next few days they chatted back and forth about Halloween plans and scheduled a date at Number 7 Restaurant. This would not be the last time that they went on a date or else this story would be out of place on a wedding website. Over the course of maybe a few too many cocktails for a Sunday evening, they talked about politics, Buffy, broccoli tacos, and mostly just tried to get a sense of who they each were. Mark walked Allison back down Fulton Street while they continued to chat until they reached Fulton and Flatbush, right in front of a McDonald's notorious for violence and danger. It was here that they shared their first (but again not last because this is a wedding website) kiss.

After many months of going to adoption events and various cat cafes in New York City, our duo was unable to secure a tiny mammal made mostly of teeth, claws, and crying for attention/treats. For those readers not in "The Big Apple" as all of us who live here refer to our home daily, basically it is more difficult to adopt a kitten than probably a human baby. Much like entry level jobs that require work experience, no one will let you adopt a kitten unless you already have a kitten or an adult cat and even then they will do home visits. So instead of putting up with "the Man" and his rules, Allison endeavored to follow her Wyoming Valley roots and work outside the law. Packing up a car with her wheelman Mark, the two sped down to Wilkes Barre to meet the tiniest ball of fluff ever. Sake did not like the car so she cried for three straight hours. She also thought that in the first hour of being at her new home, she should crawl under the sink's baseboard and force Mark to tear up a cabinet wall to get her back. But Sake was affectionate, playful, and only brought the two lovebirds closer together. Over the years, Sake has helped the couple feel like a family. That is why Sake will be an important part of the wedding ceremony and I am just assuming that maybe Allison won't read this far in the story section since it is my job to write these.

So it's not important right now, but way back in the beginning of the relationship, Mark and Allison went to a Holiday market and bought a very tiny frog statue. Super Tiny Frog (STF) went with Allison on a lot of adventures because she travelled a lot when the couple first started dating. Allison would always send Mark pictures of STF to keep him updated. Anyway, for their four year anniversary, Mark and Allison went to their favorite dinner place, Rucola. Unbeknownst to Allison, her best friend Jess was a few blocks away waiting at a bar. Mark was surreptitiously texting with Jess all night to keep her posted. The bartender told them the specials and one of them was a pasta with a bunch of truffle flakes and probably truffles in the sauce. If Allison were writing these this is where she'd get distracted by talking about the pasta but let's just take a brief pause to imagine her being very happy with the food. So, after the meal, Mark brought out a book for Allison. It was a photobook of their relationship and ended with asking Allison to marry him. At this time, Jess had snuck into the restaurant to start taking pictures of Allison's reaction. Mark also gave Allison a ring with STF glued on top of it as a symbol of their next grand adventure together. Then the bartender gave them drinks but not as many free drinks as you might expect for getting engaged there and being regulars.