It was September 2020. The peak of the pandemic had ended, well we thought so anyway. And while social distancing was still a thing, we were finally allowed out of isolation!! Do you have PTSD yet? Erika and Brandon were not only healthcare workers during this time, but students in their graduate programs. Life was a struggle in every sense of the word and love was the last thing on their minds. Lucky for Erika and Brandon, they had some amazing friends or maybe persistent is the better word :) Anyway, they convinced them to get into online dating, a platform neither of them was exactly comfortable with. So reluctantly and without much of a choice, they finally made their respective hinge profiles. Brandon caught Erika’s attention because he responded to a traveling prompt on her profile and told her all about his trip to Japan, a country she has always wanted to visit. Conversation from there was effortless and consisted of the exchange of many SNL and Parks and Recs clips before they went on their first date to Grand Central Market in Los Angeles. They ordered way too much food (a habit that continues to persist, thank you Brandon) and barely ate anything as they couldn’t stop talking about their similar dislike for the city of Los Angeles (okay its grown on us a little), lives, hopes, dreams, aspiration and greatest fears. Brandon made Erika laugh with his silly humor and Erika entertained Brandon with her unhinged stories. Time seemed to stop for these two during the most chaotic times in their lives. And this didn’t change as dates became Friday fundays which became weekend long trips then vacations then moving in together. And they never stopped laughing even when life sent them some tough curveballs. They fell in love with Duke’s blessing of course, and you know the rest is history.

Erika and Brandon got engaged on a backpacking trip on the Lost Coast in northern California. Brandon got all of their friends in on it and Erika really had no idea. He proposed at sunset on the most beautiful and magical bluff overlooking the ocean. Erika turned around to inform Brandon to hurry up with the drone as we were gonna miss the sunset and found him on one knee. She kind of blacked out and doesn’t even really remember what he said except that she shouted out yes. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you during Erika's favorite time of year in Massachusetts!