It was December 2015 and FIJI was having their annual formal. A dateless Danny had to use his network of friends to find someone to go with. After a couple weeks he finally was able to get a shout out on the Pi Phi Facebook page to see if anyone would be interested in joining him. The post included fun and "interesting" pictures of Danny which were simply titled, "Danny being Danny.” As fate would have it, a simple comment of a winking face from Ashley started their love journey. The two first met at FIJI the night before the formal which was full of laughter, a quick ping pong game, and nonstop conversation. The next day, Ashley and Danny had a long drive to Lake Okoboji where they found their similar interests in music, hobbies, sense of humor, and most importantly, fell in love. As luck would have it, the next semester at Iowa State Ashley and Danny had two classes together, allowing them to be study buddies. Later that spring, Danny finally worked up the courage to ask Ashley out, and as they say, "the rest was history!"

After dating for nearly 6 years (2 of which was spent 24/7 together during Covid in their small Uptown Minneapolis apartment), the two knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. The planning for the proposal started when Danny gave Ashley flights to Italy over Valentine's Day for her birthday. Immediately, you would think Ashley would be suspicious, but given this was her first time across the pond, a proposal didn't cross her mind. The next months were full of suspicious questions like "What ring size are you?", "Do you like oval diamonds the most?", and "What type of bands do you like?" But still, Ashley thought Danny was only curious since Danny would slip in those important questions when they were watching The Bachelor together. The big surprise was almost uncovered when Ashley found a large box in the mailroom, which happened to be the box the ring was delivered in. Luckily the excuse of, "It's your Valentine's Day gift,” was able to dismiss any suspicions. Once the two arrived in Venice, Danny and Ashley decided to have a bottle of wine along a canal when Danny mentioned he had scheduled a "walking tour" for tomorrow morning...Valentine's Day. Still, once again, Ashley was too excited to see the city instead of picking up on what was coming. On Valentine's Day in Venice, the City of Love, Ashley and Danny left for the tour where "the guide" was conveniently taking photos of the couple as they walked around the beautiful canals. Ashley asked, "When is she going to be telling us fun facts about the city?" She still hadn't put together that Danny hired a photographer to capture the special moment instead of a tour guide. Once the two were in a private area right by a canal, Danny got down on one knee and asked Ashley to marry him. Ashley, of course, said, "Yes!!" The moment was full of tears of joy and excitement to spend the rest of their lives together, as well as applause and cheers from the local Venetians. The couple went on a gondola ride once the tour ended to celebrate the next chapter of their lives. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you!