Suzanna and Drew met for the first time in the Winter of 2013 while in school at the University of Virginia. Despite several years of going to many of the same parties and multiple attempts on Drew’s part to get Suzanna’s friends to “put in a good word for him”, they didn’t actually cross paths until their last semester at UVA at the house party of a mutual friend. After exchanging numbers at the party, Suzanna was the first to make a move, inviting Drew to be her date at an upcoming event with her sorority. Drew made the next move asking Suzanna to dinner at The Local, a popular restaurant just off grounds in Charlottesville’s “downtown mall.” They spent the rest of the Spring semester together hanging out with friends, going to fraternity and sorority parties, attending UVA basketball games (Go Hoos!), going wine tasting, and, eventually, getting ready for “the real world.” After graduation, Suzanna started work at IBM in Washington D.C. and Drew at Oracle up in Boston. They spent every other weekend together, flying back and forth for over a year until Drew accepted a job in D.C. They spent five years living in D.C. before making a cross country move in 2018 to San Francisco where they now spend their time surfing, hiking, wedding planning, quarantining, and cheering on the Denver Broncos.

In the first few days of March 2020, Drew flew to New York to visit Suzanna’s parents to “officially” ask for their blessing to marry their daughter. This came as little surprise to Steve and Ava as Drew had been working with Steve to design the engagement ring. After getting the green light from Steve and Ava, Drew flew to Virginia Beach to meet his newborn niece, Heidi, but cut his trip short to return to San Francisco due to mounting concerns around the Coronavirus pandemic. With news of lockdowns, quarantine, and travel advisories, Drew decided to wait until things calmed down a bit to pop the big question. After about two months of quarantine and no changes in sight, Drew couldn’t wait any longer. He called his friend Pat and his girlfriend Hope to let them know what his plans were and to ask if they could help photograph the moment. On May 16, Drew and Suzanna got up early and traveled to Marin Headlands to do one of their favorite hikes along the Tennessee Valley trail. What Suzanna did not know was that Drew had been here with Pat the day before to plan the proposal and map out a good vantage point from which Pat and Hope could take pictures. A few miles into the hike, Drew and Suzanna approached a small platform surrounded by cliffs overlooking the Pacific ocean & stopped for lunch. While admiring the very foggy, but very beautiful view, Drew pulled out a card which he claimed to be a belated anniversary card. In the first couple of lines, Drew came clean, admitting that this was not an anniversary card. The card went on to detail how much Drew loves Suzanna, and his desire for them to spend the rest of their lives together. As Suzanna finished the card, Drew pulled out the ring, got down on a knee and asked her to marry him. After some time to themselves to soak in the moment, Suzanna and Drew finished the hike down to Muir Beach for the last surprise where Pat and Hope had set up a blanket in the sand with champagne and glasses to celebrate!