In August of 2021, Devin and Rose took a storytelling class on a whim (both needing an extra credit to meet their graduation requirement). Neither of them truly remember how they started talking, but their first speech in the class started a friendly competition between them (with Rose getting 1 point higher on the speech than Devin [if you know, you know how big of a deal this was]). Thus they became "enemies". In October, Devin called Rose over their fall break to see if she wanted to grab a drink with himself and another friend. Rose said yes, and they officially became friends (well friends on the weekends anyway, they still liked to say that they were class rivals during the week). After that they started to become pretty inseparable. By the end of the semester, they had both started to feel that something was there, but neither was ready to say anything until a few days before graduation. They were driving around looking at Christmas lights when Devin worked up the courage to tell Rose and she reciprocated the feeling. A few days later they graduated college together. Not knowing exactly what was coming in the next chapter of their lives, it was still a few weeks until they officially began dating.

After a few weeks of hanging out and attending a few outings together, Devin and Rose decided they should go on their first official date! They thought hard about when they should go as it was Christmas time and Devin was also getting ready to leave for a family vacation. They decided they didn't want to wait until Devin got back. So, on Monday, December 27th, 2021, they went on their first date. They went up to the Bristol 45 Diner for dinner and then to Reef Records in Antioch, IL (as they share a love of music and vinyl) where Rose picked up her first personal record player (which she still has to this day). It was a wonderful time and the first of the many to come…

I knew in December of 2023 that I wanted to marry Rose. I also knew I wanted my proposal to be a surprise. When I started to look for the ring, I spent a few months narrowing down my options. I visited several mainstream boutiques, but none of the boutiques matched what I was looking for. I brainstormed with my family, and they recommended a private jeweler/designer, Studio D in Woodstock. The same day I scheduled my consultation appointment with Studio D, a package arrived at my doorstep. Enclosed in an extremely well wrapped box, was a pair of golden rings from my grandma and grandpa. My grandparents, who have been married for over 60 years, sent me their 30th anniversary wedding rings from when they first renewed their vows. I felt deeply honored by the gift, but asked if they were sure they wanted me to have such an amazing gift. “I still wear the ring your grandpa gave me when I was 18 years old,” was my grandmother’s reply. My grandparents have been an unrivaled example of love and I hope my marriage with Rose will stand the test of time like my grandparents’ marriage. That day my family and I spoke with a manager at Studio D, and I knew this was the jeweler for me. They were so kind and thorough and knew exactly how to make my vision come to life. My grandmother’s ring was a small golden band with a single Prince Rupert’s cut diamond, accented by 6, half-carat, vintage cut marquise diamonds. I opted to work the marquise diamonds into a custom, white-gold setting with a new sapphire as center stone. I knew Rose wanted a sky-blue stone, and I was hesitant to choose a sapphire, but the jeweler was confident they could find what I was looking for. After drawing crudely onto a napkin, my contact got to work on finalizing the design and finding that stone. Over the next few months, my family and I visited weekly to tweak the design and compare notes. To not raise suspicion, my dad and I started refinishing a table for my apartment. It was an effective cover story, as we spent about 6 months preparing for the ring and not even once did Rose ask why it was taking so long to sand and refinish a relatively small table. By May 2024, we finalized the design and my heart was set on a two and a half carat, sky blue sapphire. I was told it would take another 6 weeks or so for the ring to be assembled. About a week later, I got a call that the ring was ready. I asked my contact why it was completed so quickly, they said, “When the owner (the goldsmith) has a project he truly likes, everything else is on the backburner. Seeing that ring glisten in the sun for the first time is a moment I think upon all the time. Everything came together in such an amazing way, and I am so thankful to my family for being there every step of the way. ~Devin It is more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed! ~Rose

It was a Thursday like any other (as far as I knew). Devin's grandparents were in town to celebrate the twins' (Devin's brothers Bryan & Eric) 21st birthday. I thought we were going to Lake Geneva to have a special birthday dinner with the grandparents. Boy was I wrong! On the way Devin received a text from his mom that they were going to be a little late, so I said "Great! We'll have a little time to walk around before dinner!" Devin happily agreed. When we arrived, we parked at the restaurant and walked to the park across the street. There is a big Gazebo in this park, and I could tell Devin wanted to go up into it. I asked, "Do you want to go up and dance?" Again Devin happily agreed. So we started dancing, which was not unusual for us). I was particularly stressed from work that day, and started venting. After I finished my rant, Devin said "I'm sorry about all that...but you know what? I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you." "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, either" I replied. "Then I guess it's time to make it official." He spun me around and dropped to one knee. I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to say! It completely caught me off guard. Before I had a moment to process what was happening, Devin rose and asked me again if I would marry him. Of course I happily said "Yes!" "Now say hi to the family!" He turned me toward the window of the restaurant across the street where several faces were waving in the window. When we walked inside, I was greeted by my whole family and best friend from college, who were waiting alongside Devin's family. I couldn’t believe my eyes, and was so grateful that he was able to get everyone together for such a special moment. We had an amazing time celebrating our engagement with our families, and now we can't wait to celebrate our marriage with all of you!

Rose didn’t have a clue… Initially, I had intended to propose to Rose on our annual summer trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Cape had several beaches I scouted out as potential spots to pop the question. However, while the Cape would have made for a beautiful scene, I knew it would have been difficult to have Rose’s friends and family follow us. I knew I wanted to have my grandparents there for the event as well, and they happened to be coming into town for a late birthday celebration for my brothers. In the same week, I snuck over to her parent’s house to ask for their blessing. Rose’s brother gave me a big bear hug when he heard the news. Along with Rose’s parents, siblings, and grandmother, I was also able to coordinate with her best friend, Paige. The situation was organizing itself perfectly. I decided it would happen in Lake Geneva, there was a beautiful gazebo near the water that was within view of the restaurant I had chosen. It also had the extra bonus of being far away from the local cicada horde. As we approached our destination on the day of the deed, like clockwork, my family texted, letting us know they would be a few minutes late. Without hesitation, Rose suggested that we walk around and relax while we wait. What I didn’t anticipate was how the road we were on was a one way street that took us right past the gazebo and restaurant. As we drove past, I prayed no one was in the window we reserved. I subtly worked to get out of there as quickly as possible. I learned after the fact that Rose’s mother was sitting at one of the outside tables when she spotted us driving by. She dove under the table faster than a bolt of lightning. It was an amazing feat and Rose was none the wiser. We parked and lazily made our way to the gazebo. While I seemed nonchalant, as we got closer my heart was pounding in my chest. My mind swam with what I wanted to say, how I would say it, what to anticipate, and so on. I was on the steps of the gazebo, more nervous than I had ever been in my life and consumed by my thoughts. It was then that Rose’s lovely voice cut through my clouded mind with the words “I need to pee!” Luckily there was a restroom on the other side of the park, away from the restaurant. As Rose entered the area, I pretended to do the same, walking around the far side of the building and making sure to pump my fist and signal to my family, who waved back excitedly from the large central window of the restaurant. The story is simple from there, and while it went smoothly from that point on, I will note that from the vantagepoint of the folks in the window, when I went down on one knee, all of the photos showed that I was almost completely blocked by a pillar that I didn’t anticipate being in the way. I will also note that while Rose was venting to me, the video they took of us dancing includes my grandmother asking “Why is he taking so long?!” All aside, I wouldn’t change a single thing from that day. Would it have been nice to have some photos where we weren’t photo-bombed by a pillar? Absolutely. But the moment worth a thousand photos was when we made our way into the bistro and were greeted by a row of servers at the door and the roar that followed from our folks and the crowd of patrons who had joined, conversed, and watched the proposal along with our families.