Matt: After speaking for most of the summer, I knew that if I got the opportunity to meet her, I was going to be in love. I had already showed pictures of her to my mom. It was September 11th when that opportunity arrived. I choose a small bar in Greenpoint that I liked because it was quiet and they had individual booths each with saloon style doors. At the time throughout our text conversations, I was under the impression she was impressed by my useless fact knowledge, so I choose "trivia night" at the Black Rabbit. I had even brought two pens with me and had already set up our answer sheet entitled "Matt and Ali Trivia Night." It was when I got up to order a drink that I saw her. Hair pulled back and a smile so big, I knew at that moment I was going to be with her forever. It was an overwhelming sense of love, excitement and relief that I will never forget. I can still feel it to this day. We got two questions in and she bailed on trivia to go to their back patio to talk. There we sat, on the same side of a picnic table, my legs getting destroyed by mosquitos and my heart pounding as we talked and laughed. Leaving the Black Rabbit, Ali asked if she could get a piece of pizza. I gazed in awe of her beauty and enigmatic personality as she crushed a greasy slice. Maybe thinking the night was over, I nervously asked if she would like to go to another bar. She looked at me jumped up and threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. She said "I'll go anywhere with you" and here we are.

Ali: It was a Sunday in August. It rained the day before but Sunday was clear. A month prior, my brother had texted me asking if we wanted to row boats in Central Park one weekend with him and Gillian. Matt turned to me that day and said “your brother must be a romantic”. That was my first clue. We set a date to meet up on August 29. A couple weeks rolled by and the end of August neared. Matt seemed to be taking more phone calls and answering more texts than usual. Sometimes he’d run out of the house or make an excuse to go to the store and come back empty handed. This was my second clue. He was planning something. The morning of August 29 my suspicions had grown and I had butterflies in my stomach. “This might be the day” I thought as I woke up. I had hoped and hoped this day would come. I hoped in the national parks of Arizona and Utah or the mountains in Vermont or the quiet of our home or the busy streets of Brooklyn. I bought nail polish remover and stripped away my chipped polish. I saw Matt pull out a button down shirt, not his usual choice for a sunny summer day, so I reached for a dress in my closet. Off we went uptown to Central Park. Matt seemed quiet and nervous. I was excited. Jeff and Gillian joined us and we rowed our boats around the lake, past Bow Bridge, the Bethesda Fountain and the Dakota. Maybe it’s not happening? I wondered as Matt steered us in a circle and rowed back the way we came. We pulled back under Bow Bridge just as I got a peak of a familiar face on top of the bridge. Matt got down on one knee. Music started playing and rose petals drifted off the bridge. I saw the smiling faces of my friends and family above us. I was so shocked and surprised! I immediately said yes. Afterward, we had a picnic in the park and drank champagne. It was the best day of my life! And I can’t wait to spend forever with Matt.