It all began back in 2011 when Ryan and Colleen met at BC through the Emerging Leader Program. As Ryan's small group leader, Colleen was the FIRST person Ryan met as he stepped onto campus that August, welcoming him with a loud “Ryan Santacrose from Glenview, Illinois!” Luckily, Ryan wasn’t too creeped out. They formed a great friendship that year, and while their friends knew it was something more, relationships between freshmen and their group leaders were frowned upon. When the program ended in April, Colleen and Ryan started hanging out and before you knew it, they were on the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls that summer! Ryan and Colleen enjoyed the rest of their time in Boston together before diving into 3.5 years of long distance (emphasis on the long)! Ryan moved back to Chicago and Colleen stayed in Boston to continue her nursing career. They made the most of every visit they had with each other, exploring all the best food, dive bars with hoop fever, hiking adventures in NH/Vermont/Maine/Wisconsin, picnics on the Esplanade, bike rides, and eventually quality snuggle time with little Ellie gal (don’t worry, if you haven’t met the 6 lb. angel yet, you will). However, 3.5 years was enough! Colleen and Ellie moved to Chicago in August 2018 and the three became the happiest roommates there ever were! Well, so Colleen thought. Ryan had put the wheels into motion for what would make them not just happy roommates, but partners for life! While on a hike in Breckenridge, Ryan got down on one knee and asked Colleen to marry him (he followed her emotional and ecstatic “Yes!” with a “You will?!”— you know, just for confirmation). Now that the story brings us here, we are going to stop referring to ourselves in the third person :) We feel so incredibly lucky to have found each other and are beyond grateful that God has blessed us with the gift of true love and joy. We cannot wait to share our love for each other with all of you on our special day!