Our love story can be traced back to May 2021, when A.J. was in North Carolina for the funeral of his grandmother, Anna Mae Katz. Several hours after the service, A.J. paid tribute to "Granamae" on Instagram, and received messages from friends and colleagues expressing their condolences. One of the messages came someone he had known for a while, but hadn’t spoken with in several years. (She's now a bridesmaid at this very wedding!) A.J. thanked "this woman who shall not be named" for the kind message, and since he had her attention, went in a bold direction Granamae certainly would have endorsed: “Who's the blonde girl in your most recent photo?," he asked, adding, "Does she happen to be single?” To his delight, the friend responded, “Yes, she is! Her name is Erica. Let me set you guys up … she’s one of my oldest friends, pretty much since high school.” Fast forward a month, no response. Did she forget? A.J. circled back with the friend. Apparently, it had slipped her mind. She sent A.J. Erica’s number, and he took care of the rest. Our first date took place on July 22, 2021, at a cocktail bar near Erica’s Greenwich Village apartment. After a couple cocktails, we walked over to an Italian restaurant next to Washington Square Park for dessert, where A.J. proceeded to cut their cannoli's in half with a fork and knife. This led Erica to sincerely question his Italian heritage. After dessert, A.J. walked Erica home, and somehow managed to earn a good night kiss. Subsequent dates included the Van Gogh immersive exhibit, Chelsea Piers driving range, dinner with Suki and Morgan, Rye Playland (we’re actually children), and many more. That October, A.J. asked Erica to be his girlfriend in the parking lot of a Sharon, Connecticut shopping center, of all places. She said “yes!" Fast forward to August 2022, we made a bold and spontaneous decision to relocate to New Orleans for a year while Erica completed her dietetic internship, part of her quest to become a registered dietician. Adweek gave A.J. the thumbs up to join Erica in NOLA. She was busy with hospital rotations on weekdays, but A.J., a Tulane grad, showed her his favorite New Orleans haunts on weekends. We truly loved being in the Crescent City and took advantage of every festival - Mardi Gras, Po' boy Fest, Beignet Fest, Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest; you name it, we participated. Amid all that fun, tragedy struck. Erica’s beloved yorkie, Teddy, suddenly escaped from our house one night, and was killed by a car. A.J. reached out to Erica’s friends and family hours later, telling them the news and standing by her the entire time, as difficult as it was. The ordeal cast a pall over our time in New Orleans, but in a strange way, bonded us even closer. We were fortunate enough to track down Teddy’s breeder, who just so happened to be expecting a new litter of puppies sired by Teddy’s dad. We jumped at the opportunity to have a piece of Teddy with us in the form of his baby sister, Winnie! We returned to New York full-time in July 2023, and A.J. proposed to Erica that September on the beach behind her mom and stepdad’s Hamptons home — one of Erica’s favorite places on Earth. Our families and a few close friends surprised Erica at the house minutes after the proposal. So, let's flip the calendar forward to September 2024. We’ll return to the site of that epic proposal and many other relationship milestones—1900 Meadow Lane—for our wedding celebration. We hope to see y’all there. A.J., Erica and Winnie will be waiting!