We're getting married!

Enzo and Ally spent no less than 6 months getting Tijuana Flatts every Tuesday with our group of about 20 mutual friends. Unfortunately, we were always sitting at opposite ends of the table, so we didn't ever really talk to one another. UNTIL! We matched on Bumble, and Ally woo'ed Enzo with her suave first message stating: "Wait! You're Enzo from taco Tuesday!". The rest is history! (jk keep scrolling for more of our stories together!)

Ally and Enzo's first cohabitation experience started in March of 2020 - a significant time in all of our lives. Ally lived in university housing at Florida Gulf Coast University at the time, and because campus closed for the rest of the semester, the school offered to refund the housing fee to any student who moved out by Wednesday (it was Monday afternoon). So, Ally packed everything into her 2008 Honda Accord, and drove it all to Enzo's apartment where she lived with Enzo, his groomsman Carter, and our friend Cameron for the rest of the Spring and Summer. Despite the chaos of the pandemic and the uncertainty of what our next steps looked like, living in that apartment was the most fun part of Ally's time at FGCU.

At the end of Enzo's lease, it was Ally's turn to pay rent and Enzo's turn to live with the girlies! We moved into an apartment with my friends Abby and Megan, and that took some adjusting for Enzo. There were quite a few times where Abby, who shared a wall with us, was startled by videogame commentary like "Sir! Put the gun down!" or "Shots fired! Shots fired!". In fact, in the time that that game was on, Ally couldn't think of a single normal/not alarming conversation between Enzo and his buddies. There were some pretty hilarious one-liners thrown around. It was another fun year, but it was almost time for Ally to graduate, and we were getting antsy to have a place of our own.

Ally had spent about 6 months worrying about how she was going to ask Enzo if he wanted to move with her to Atlanta when she was accepted to Georgia Tech. One day while we were visiting Enzo's parents in Miami, Enzo's mom asked him what he was going to do when Ally graduates. Enzo nonchalantly shrugged and said "I guess I'm moving to Atlanta!". So when the time came, we packed our bags and moved to the 404! Our apartment was beautiful, and we had some pretty fun traditions -- golf and Korean BBQ with Daniel and Paolo was by far the best! But something was missing. We couldn't quite put our finger on it until.......

Carter came up to visit us, and our original plan was to find new seats for Ally's car and install them. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any and our dinner reservation wasn't for another couple hours... The good news is, we lived right next door to the Atlanta Humane Society, so we figured we could walk around and play with a couple dogs and then head to dinner. We walked up and down the 500+ kennels at the Humane Society and Ally found 2 dogs she wanted to play with: an 8-month-old chocolate lab, and a 2-year-old shepherd mix who was sick and skinny and scared. We played with the lab puppy who was literally chewing the shoes that Enzo was wearing, so he veto-ed that decision. We still had some time, so we had them bring in Sweetums, the sick shepherd mix. She walked right over to Enzo, and put her head on his shoulder -- turns out this permanently deactivates Enzo's "we don't need a dog" button because Sweetums came home with us, and was promptly renamed to Kota. She was treated for heartworms, nursed back to health with Yoy Yoy's steak fried rice, and she is now the Kota everyone knows and loves today!

After graduating, Ally got admitted to a PhD program at the University in South Florida -- and thank god because Atlanta was WAY too cold for us. Again, Enzo being the most incredible and supportive partner, followed Ally to Tampa. We are still living in Tampa to this day, and are very excited to be having our wedding in a city we both love!

The week after Thanksgiving in 2023, we cashed in the trip Ally's parents got us for Christmas and we took a cruise to the Bahamas. It was our first trip together just the two of us. Enzo's parents had gotten us a photo package so we could "take pictures for the family album"! Ally was suspicious going into this, so she got her nails done and packed all cute outfits (but that being said, she had been doing this any time anything remotely special happened for the entire year before). We got on the boat and went to schedule our photography session, but there was drama with what was purchased vs. what Enzo was hoping for. To resolve this, we went to customer service, where the Mensa that was working behind the counter decided to announce that Amy had asked for "photos of her son's engagement". Now, you might be thinking that that ruined the surprise... Enzo managed to keep it together, and played it totally cool which is what threw Ally off the scent. Surely, if that was true Enzo would have SOME reaction, right?! Well later that day, after carrying the ring around in the pocket of his bathing suit into just about every body of water we could have entered, Enzo proposed to Ally on the helipad at the very front of the ship. In total and complete shock, Ally the Wordsmith's immediate response was "You're lying!!!". After confirming the truth of the proposal, Ally (of course) said yes. The ring is beautiful, our trip was beautiful, and our love is beautiful!

As we have been planning our wedding, we have thought long and hard about the people who have made us who we are as the individuals who met and fell in love, but also the people that have helped us grow as a couple to where we are today. If you're reading this right now, it is because you are one of those people! We are so happy to have you all with us on the happiest day of our lives together so far. We can't wait to say "We do!".