We can't wait to celebrate with you!

It was a crisp Friday night in October 2014, and courtship was in the air. Tony Viviani wrapped up a stressful week as a public defender in Fairfax County, VA, and due to a multiple lane closure on I66, he spent the better part of an hour in standstill traffic driving to his rowhouse in DC. As he painstakingly inched along, he called Brett, who lived right off the Ballston exit of the highway, to see if Brett was around and interested in killing some time while traffic died down. Brett was painfully available and had been waiting for Tony to call for weeks. Tony hopped off the highway and picked up a bottle of Monte Alban mezcal for them to share. The two of them took turns taking swigs and reminisced on the good times they had bar hopping around DC in their early twenties. As early evening turned to night-time and the bottle of mezcal steadily emptied, the energy levels of Tony and Brett waned. Tony started comparing the prices of Uber vs. Lyft vehicles in the area to catch a ride home and Brett began hydrating with several glasses of tap water in preparation of an early morning run the next day. Suddenly, Brett’s roommate, Tyler Gehrs, arrived at their place, and asked what Brett and Tony were getting into. Brett and Tony defeatedly told him they were calling it a night and heading to bed shortly. Tyler was disappointed. As Tyler told them that he knew exactly how the next 12 hours of his life were going to happen, he grew more animated. Tyler, full of charisma and enthusiasm, proceeded to give Tony and Brett a motivational speech about how starting that night their lives could go in an untold number of directions. Their night was one of infinite possibilities and it wasn’t acceptable that they were just going to head to bed, like he was. He told them that if they didn’t want to go out to bars and meet people for themselves, then do it for him. Tony and Brett, full of piss and vinegar after Tyler’s speech, ordered an Uber to take them to Saint Ex, located on 14th Street in Washington, DC, so they could relive their early twenties. After getting carded at the door, they beelined it for the windowless basement of the bar, where they could buy $3 tall-boy Narragansett beers and dance to Right Said Fred club remixes with a bunch of sweaty strangers. One of those sweaty strangers, arguably the sweatiest, was Amy Michelle Bush. Amy and Brett locked eyes immediately. Flirtations and small talk quickly followed. The loud music made it tough to talk, other than introductions. Brett asked if she was related to the famous Bush family, even though she didn’t look much like Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. The loud music must have obstructed their hearing because Amy and her friend/roommate, Briana, were very confused. As the night grew late and the bar basement turned from a sauna into an inferno, Brett, Amy, Tony and Briana made their way outside to cool down. More substantive conversations ensued, during which Brett and Amy found they shared the experience of living in Germany at around the same time and location. Amy told Brett about the stressful work event she organized and wrapped up earlier that day that led her to blowing off steam at Saint Ex. Brett found her work at the Holocaust Museum fascinating and asked for her phone number so they could get coffee together in the future and talk more about it. After exchanging contact info, everyone called it a night. A few days later, Brett sent Amy a lengthy text message talking about a book related to the Holocaust he recently read and if she wanted to discuss it over margaritas. Amy agreed to meet up for margs, albeit she was a little confused if he was interested in her or just really liked this book he wanted to talk about. And so a week later, Amy and Brett had their first official date during happy hour at Cactus Cantina. Lots more margaritas followed over the next few years and now, close to eight years later, Amy and Brett are engaged and getting married!