Like many modern fairy tales, ours began on Bumble. Alana sent the first message, and Daniel replied with a photo of his dog, Theo, caught stealing breakfast. Classic Theo. After a bit of back-and-forth and a couple of months of silence, Alana reached out again and we’re so glad she did. Our first date was a walk in a Hawthorn park, which mostly involved Daniel chasing Theo. For our second date, Daniel organised a Fitzroy bar crawl to show Alana around her new suburb… which quickly turned into too many drinks, absinthe shots, and some questionable choices by Alana including flinging her corn cob across the restaurant floor while attempting -unsuccessfully to cut the kernels off “like a lady.” So the score was Daniel: 1, Alana: 1. Our third date leveled the playing field and from there, the rest is history A year later, we bought a house in the seaside town of Seaford before ever living together. Nothing like living in the present! Luckily, it turned out to be the best decision we ever made. Since then, we’ve combined children Marvin and Theo, shared our love of travel and food, exploring Europe, the Middle East, Bali, New Zealand -including the three-day Abel Tasman walk, and plenty of adventures across Australia, collecting memories and plenty of snacks along the way. In June 2025, Daniel proposed in Cyprus at a little viewpoint in a cobblestoned village. Alana said “yes!” Through every adventure, park fails, too many drinks, house buying, and Theo stealing the spotlight, we’ve only grown stronger. Now we can’t wait to celebrate our love with all of you, our family and friends. Daniel and Alana Xo