Once upon a time, in a land of sunshine and palm trees… Three men walked into a bar. The bartender looked up and said, "What’ll it be?" The first guy ordered a craft beer, the second went for an old fashioned, and the third—Chris—looking at the menu said, “I’ll have ---," -- "EXCUSE me, can we bother you for a second please?" interrupted a boisterous blonde holding a pink margarita. "First of all, you should order the Spicy Ducky Margarita, it's delish. Second, my friend here was trying to decide what kind of pictures to put on her first ever online dating profile... What do you recommend? So far, we have her smiling with friends, hiking by a waterfall, and a cat asleep in her lap," said Chelsea, Jess’s best friend and date for the evening. Chris turned to the women with an eyebrow raised, caught off guard by the sudden interruption, while his brunette friend Erik jumped in to answer. Erik, Chelsea, and Mike started chatting, and Chris admitted to Jess that he, too, had been thinking of getting on the dating apps but found the whole process daunting as well. They all hit it off, sampling various margarita flavors and becoming quick friends. As the night went on, the five of them migrated to another bar, False Idol, and the laughter didn’t stop as the tiki drinks flowed and thunderstorms rolled through (literally). Time passed quickly, as it tends to do when having fun, and suddenly, the bartender was yelling last call. Jess offered her number to Chris as the group parted ways, and they all walked away smiling. The next week, Chris and Jess went on their first date on Friday, August 13th. Naturally Jess was running late (physically on foot from her apartment downtown to Little Italy) and when she finally met up with Chris, her feet were already rubbing in her cute strappy sandals. Later on, while sipping a cocktail and telling a detailed story, Jess casually unstrapped her sandal and applied a bandaid to the back of her sore heel, without missing a beat in the conversation. Chris called her out on the pure audacity of the act and they laughed together for some time. They went on to enjoy a delicious Italian dinner and when they didn’t want the night to end, decided to have a nightcap at Ironside. They stayed until closing, cheersing to complimentary champagne and singing along with the Boys to Men song playing on the radio. Chris walked Jess home, singing and dancing through the streets (Ok, Jess tripped on the curb and Chris caught her in a spin move that Jess calls dancing but this is a fairy tale after all). They both knew there would be more dates in their future, as they simply had to know each other better. Three years later, on August 13th, 2024, Chris asked Jess to make it official and now here they are, bandaids still in hand, ready for the biggest adventure of their lives: saying “I do” with all of you.