Gwen was visiting one of her best friends, Allie, in Chicago in 2014, days before she started pharmacy school at Purdue. At that time, Allie was dating David's fraternal big brother and close friend, Andrew. That weekend, Allie and Andrew brought Gwen and David together in a night that culminated in some singing and dancing at Chicago's (in)famous Hangee Uppee. Two weeks later, David rented a car and drove two hours to Purdue to take Gwen on their first date at El Rodeo, a Mexican restaurant (...recently shut down for money laundering). From there, the relationship blossomed and they were inseparable. Many, many miles were traveled between Purdue and Chicago for 3 years until Gwen was able to move to Chicago in 2017. A year after, upon Gwen's graduation, they moved to the gorgeous Asheville, North Carolina to pursue new career opportunities. Then in the heart of 2020 craziness, made the move back to Chicago, IL where it all began! We will be forever grateful to Allie and Andrew, now the Goldfeins, and all of our friends and family who have shared this magical journey with us! .... and to this day, we continue to share a love of "authentic" Mexican cuisine and do not go more than a month without a stop for chips, salsa, and some sizzling fajitas.

2018 was an exciting year for Gwen and David! Gwen graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy from Purdue and both her and David moved to Asheville to start the next chapter of their lives. They also adopted the cutest and most amazing dog, Smokey! In August 2018, Gwen had a two week trip to Honduras for her residency in August and David knew he had his moment. After waking up at 3am and dropping Gwen and a few of her colleagues at Asheville airport, David went home, packed, and hit the road to catch his flight from Charlotte to NYC. With the help of his mother, Patty, David went to the diamond district in New York and picked out the perfect ring for Gwen. A month later, under guise of "visiting" Gwen and David for David's birthday, Patty and Jay acted as courier and delivered the ring. Fast forward a couple of days to September 26th, when Gwen thought she was taking David out for his birthday to the Grove Park Inn. It had rained earlier that day, so the typically busy Sunset Terrace was not as crowded as usual. David wanted to get a picture of the beautiful views the Grove Park Inn provides and while Gwen was asking a nice couple to take our picture, David got down on one knee and the rest is history (and captured in both photos and videos).

David and I want to take a moment to recognize the most important people in our lives, our parents. Between the two of us, we have been blessed with six incredible parents: Patty and Jay Fischoff, Julie and Marc Dietz, Greg and Vickie Seamon. We owe this entire weekend to their love, support, and guidance.