We met the modern way — on Bumble — and agreed to meet at Cosmo’s in Dallas after bonding over our shared Midwest roots (Alyssa from Indiana, Nate from Iowa). It was three days before St. Patrick’s Day, which in Lower Greenville is basically a competitive sport. Alyssa insisted she could only stay for one drink because she had an early workout class the next morning. Naturally, one drink turned into three, and a quick meet-up turned into nearly four hours. From that night on, we stopped pretending this was casual. From there, we were together constantly — trying new restaurants, going to concerts, and quickly becoming each other’s favorite person to do life with. Things really clicked when we traveled together for the first time to Chicago over the Fourth of July for Nate’s annual friends trip (where we came within two minutes of missing our flight). Meeting each other’s friends, meeting each other’s families, and hosting everyone at Red Oak Preserve — Nate’s ranch and now our wedding venue — made it clear this was something worth building. Somewhere between ring shopping (with plenty of champagne involved) and planning a trip to Paris, Alyssa thought she had things figured out — until five minutes before leaving for the airport, when Nate got down on one knee in our living room and asked her to marry him. A limo was waiting with French champagne to take us to Alyssa’s favorite fine-dining restaurant: Taco Bell. We then headed to Paris as a newly engaged couple and truly had the time of our lives. We can’t wait to celebrate with all of our family and friends at Red Oak Preserve, where it all comes full circle.