We met on a dating app in Boston in 2018. Carrie sent a picture of a seal saying "Sup?" and Joe responded with a picture of Joey Tribiani's classic "How you doin'?" line from Friends. After a short text exchange, they scheduled their first date with an added twist. The Pittsburgh Penguins (Carrie's favorite hockey team) were in town playing the Boston Bruins (Joe's favorite hockey team) a few days before their first date. Joe proposed a bet on the game: the fan of the losing team had to pay for the first date. Unfortunately for Carrie, the Penguins lost, and her co-workers joked about starting a GoFundMe for the first date. As you may have guessed, the date went very well and they have bet dinner dates on the Pens and Bruins ever since.

Carrie and Joe spent two years together in Boston before Carrie moved to New York for medical school. During that time they frequented local breweries, took up hiking together, and spent long weekends exploring the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire. They embarked on a long distance relationship when Carrie began medical school. Joe was Carrie's rock and biggest supporter throughout medical school. After four years and countless hours driving between New York and Boston, they finally moved in together in Providence, RI, where Carrie matched for her residency training. They recently purchased their first condo and love living together with their adorable cat Coco.

As Joe's 30th birthday approached in early 2025, he planned a birthday party and invited friends from near and far to celebrate the weekend before he and Carrie left for their vacation to Iceland. After drinks Friday night and brunch Saturday morning, Joe led Carrie and several of their friends to a viewpoint on a bridge overlooking the city of Providence. Their friend Emily asked them to pose for a photo, and the group took turns taking photos with the city in the background. It turns out Joe had some photos of his own planned, as it happened to be the exact spot where he asked a photographer to meet them for a surprise proposal. Carrie was SO surprised that she forgot to answer until 45 minutes later after their engagement shoot. It was an easy yes. The surprises didn't stop there! It turned out that Joe's birthday party was actually a surprise engagement party, and it was a surprise for everyone invited. Joe surprised Carrie again by inviting some of her closest friends to join them for their special day, some of them traveling halfway across the country to celebrate.