Well we have had quite the story to get to where we are today. Back in 2016 is when we first met. I had just moved to NYC a few days prior and I was just adjusting to the fast pace city life, a huge difference from my suburban slow pace city. And that's when Stephen casually strolls into my life. Like a flash of lightning, didn't expect it but it was a beautiful thing. We had both just moved to the city, wanting to make friends and really enjoy the NYC life we both packed our lives for. From the first time meeting him, it just felt like I have known him for years. It just felt right. We started chatting every day all day, and we just never ran out of things to talk about. I think I knew very early on into our relationship that this was going to be serious and he would play a very important role in my life. Some thing about when we went on dates, he just felt like my best friend. And our dates would go from 6 hours to 8 hours and one time it was even 10 hours. We just had so much fun together. After a couple months, we decided to take a small road trip in New England. It was better than I could imagine. He met my uncle in Philly, that was the first time he met anyone in my family and it went great - phew! After that trip, he had to go back to London and then Portugal (where he was doing his degree) as his semester abroad was over. I was bummed, but I didn't want this relationship to end. So after he flew back, we continued our relationship. 5 hour time difference and an ocean between us. However, we made it work. Spoke everyday and visited each other as often as we could. We spent the summer traveling Europe and then the next year I moved to London to do my Master's degree. He was 100% my best friend and I did not want to spend my life without him by myside. I guess he felt the same way because on May 11th 2019, he proposed on the beach at sunrise. For those of you who knew me back then, I was NOT a morning person, but that didn't stop him. He kept trying to get me to talk a walk on the beach, but all I wanted to do was lay on the towel. So he had to work with what I gave him. He has to propose while laying down. But of course I said yes, and you would think that a year or so later we would have the wedding. However, that was definitely not the case. That engagement year we started out trying to figure out which country we would get married in as both countries did not make marrying a foreigner easy. But then, the unprecedented global pandemic happened. As you could image, this dampened a lot of our plans. Now being stuck on 2 different continents and he couldn't enter the US and I could fly to the UK but who knew when and if the borders would close. This first year of our engagement really was something to remember. It was definitely a unique time in our lives, but we made it work. The ups and the downs made us stronger as a couple and I wouldn't change a thing. Finally in August of 2021, he was able to get his visa, and flew over to Florida ASAP - we didn't want any other unknowns to pop up and stop our plans! So here we are 7 years together, 4 years engaged and everything in between, and it is safe to safe that WE ARE READY FOR THIS WEDDING AND WE CANNOT WAIT TO CELEBRATE WITH EVERYONE! Thank you for being a part of our journey.