We met the way most people do these days, on Tinder. We both swiped right on each other and agreed to drinks as our first date. Brendan was heading there after volleyball and Ria was leaving a work happy hour (she also didn’t want to go because she wanted to go to bed). We met at Cask Republic, a brewpub in Stamford, and ordered drinks with a few appetizers to share. The conversation flowed the entire date and at the end of the date, Brendan suggested another date to Ria. She agreed and was excited about their potential; that is, until she went home and saw that she must have spilled one of the dipping sauces right on the middle of her dress (luckily, Brendan never noticed).

After 10 months of dating (and many Taco Bell trips), Brendan asked Ria to go to trivia and meet his cousin, Bethany, and her boyfriend, Terence, who were new Stamford residents. Little did Ria know, that Brendan had already told Bethany and Terence that he was planning on asking Ria to be his girlfriend later that evening. After trivia, Brendan started the conversation with "It's been a great 10 months, we've had some good times" (Ria thought he was ending things) and finally concluded with mentioning that he was ready to make things official. Ria, being too shocked to say anything, said "I agree." They then proceeded to plan their first trip to Walt Disney World together.

We were supposed to go to Disney World in April 2020 with Brendan's cousins (Bethany, Terence, and Chelsea) but COVID-19 had other plans. We then moved the trip to March 2021 to celebrate both Terence and Chelsea's birthdays. Little did Ria know that there was a larger surprise in store. Somehow, despite spending everyday together in a one-bedroom apartment, Brendan bought a ring without raising suspicions. On March 13th, we headed to Epcot to meet up with Austin & Emily Hulse to drink around the world. After a ring handoff from Chelsea's backpack to Bethany running out of the bathroom (that darn Chuy's) to pass Brendan the ring before Ria caught up, things were ready to go. We then headed over to the France Pavilion to "see the new Ratatouille area" where we "stumbled across" Austin's friend Billy (who "happened" to be hanging out with a Disney photographer). Brendan then suggested taking group photos by the water, leading the group to a spot that Ria had pointed out on one of their first Disney trips. Brendan suggested him and Ria take the first picture, then he got down on one knee (Ria immediately blacked out, not from the alcohol haha). We proceeded to celebrate by drinking around the world, posting cryptic "cheers" boomerangs in each country featuring the new ring.

We are so excited to celebrate this next chapter of our lives with you! See you at Jonathan Edwards!