Rewinding back to April 22, 2020: It's yet another hump day during the heart of a quarantine where virtual dating has become the new normal. Enter: Bumble, Julie & Rudy. After a few days of witty banter leading to an eventual text exchange, Rudy boldly suggested a Zoom date. They "arrived" promptly to their computer screens with their beverage of choice, and before they knew it, an hour flew by, and they were already discussing a second date. How was a gal from the Twin Cities able to swipe right on a guy nearly 200 miles away in South Dakota, you may ask? For those who don't know, online apps requests your "parameters" to narrow down the dating pool with the max being 100 miles. Was it the Brainerd area? No, we weren't there at the same time. To this day, we don't know exactly how our paths (aka algorithms) crossed, but let's just call fate. We made it official on June 14, which is important to note for a few reasons. If you're wondering who willingly chooses a Friday the 13th wedding date, look no further! We chose this date because, while widely considered unlucky, we embrace the magic and mystery associated with it. We find it similar to the enigma of how we matched on Bumble in the first place. Secondly, Julie's sister asked her to be in the delivery room for the birth of their second child who arrived last September on Friday the 13th, a profound experience unable to be described on a wedding website. Lastly, at midnight, we will celebrate our 5-year anniversary! All in all, if you've made it this far, we hope you learned a little bit about us with a few chuckles along the way. Dating in a pandemic presented unique challenges, but it also offered an incomparable opportunity to learn about each other on a deep, intimate, and authentic level. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support as we celebrate our next chapter.