From Pat's & Gabby's point of view. It's really long, get ready to read.

Before I met Gabby, I had spent a few years focused on myself, hesitant to put my heart back out there. I knew what I was looking for, though. I even had a list: a loving wife who valued family, shared my sense of adventure, and felt like home. Eventually, I knew I needed to try something new, so I did something I always said I wouldn't do: I signed up for Hinge. While at an Illenium concert, I was scrolling and a profile stopped me in my tracks. A woman with the most amazing, warm smile. Her profile was light on details, but it showed she was fun, loved her friends, and had a silly side. I decided to comment on her most unusual prompt: a "crazy" claim that the perfect condiment ratio was 90% mayo to 10% ketchup. She responded, playfully defending her wild condiment theory, and right away, I knew we could have fun teasing each other. After a few messages, I decided to shoot my shot with a nod to our first debate: “Mayo we ketchup at dinner?” When she said yes, I felt a spark of hope. For our first date on July 19th, I chose a nice sushi place, wanting to impress her. My nerves were racing as I waited outside, 30 minutes early, my mind filled with thoughts like, Is she going to like me? Am I going to say something dumb? But when Gabby walked up in a dark floral dress with that same smile, the conversation just flowed. It didn't feel like an interview; it felt natural. I went home that night smiling. Our weekly dates quickly became the highlight of my week. On our second date, I worked up the courage to kiss her on the cheek. But the real turning point was our third date at the Puttery. We shared a tiny first kiss and were goofing off on the mini-golf course when she sat me down and asked me something personal, wanting to know what truly made me tick. It felt so good to open up to her, and when she held my hand under the table as we talked, it gave me butterflies. On our next date to the county fair, I reached for her hand as soon as I saw her. A switch had flipped from "this is fun" to "this is special." All these moments were building to something real. On August 31st, before she took me to a friend's wedding, I met her at the end of the dock at District Winery. I wanted to be clear that she was the only one for me. I asked her to be my girlfriend and gave her a green clover Pandora charm because my name is Patrick, of course. The list I had written of my perfect partner? She was checking every box, and then some. I saw how perfectly she fit in with my family during Thanksgiving, and I knew she was the one. Planning the proposal was the most exciting thing. Picking out the ring made it all real. I disguised the plan as a joint Mother’s Day celebration to get our families together at Stone Tower Winery. On the day, my mind went blank, but I spoke from the heart. Bringing our story full circle, I asked, "Mayo we ketchup at the altar?" before getting on one knee and asking if she would marry me. In that moment, I thought about how my soulmate was born on the opposite side of the world, but somehow, we found each other. When she said yes, I felt pure happiness. I am so grateful for our adventure, and I can't wait to see what the rest of our life together holds.

Thinking Hinge was the worst app in the world, Gabby was ready to give up hope on ever meeting someone decent on the app the summer of 2023. That was, until Patrick popped up on her likes. She scrolled through his profile thinking "hm, this guy is pretty cute. And his profile is actually well thought out." Paying no attention to anything else on his profile other than the section that said "Dating me is like being in a hallmark movie.", she decided to match with Patrick. After talking on the app for less than a day, she agreed to go on a date with him knowing nothing else about him besides the fact that he's a man of cheesy puns. Pat had picked Sushi Taro for the first date. Normally Gabby would have avoided going into DC for any hinge dates at all costs, but for some reason, she decided to go on this one. And so, doing no research at all, she went into DC and parked 20 minutes away from the restaurant. Hiking a mile to the restaurant, she showed up sweaty and excited. First thoughts - he's handsome, and he's tall! After two hours of pure conversation, Pat walked Gabby to the car and never heard from her again! HA, just kidding. After that first date, Pat asked Gabby out every single week like clockwork for seven weeks straight. It was after seven dates, that Gabby started to wonder if Pat would ever ask her out. But while standing on the pier in Navy Yard on their 8th date, Pat started to ramble on about how much he liked her and enjoyed their time together. She felt the moment coming, and instead of letting him ask the question, she said "so you wanna be my boyfriend?". About a year and a half later, Gabby was getting boba with her maid of honor, Pocky, where she said "I think I'm getting engaged this weekend." She couldn't be sure, but she thought what are the chances that both our families are going to be together at a vineyard, for a mother's day celebration? While trying to play coy, Pat couldn't hide much from Gabby. He started saying "I love you" a million times a day leading up to the weekend, and kept mentioning how beautiful the day was, at least five times, before we left for the vineyard. When we got there his dad said we were going on a tour with our moms and she thought this was really it, but when we went outside, the tour guide said it was a mother's day tour. We got on the golf cart where she was convinced it wasn't happening, until we got to the grapes and Pat said "lets step over here for a second" and she asked, "by ourselves?". When he said yes she immediately knew it was absolutely happening. She honestly can't remember exactly what he said, but here we are! And that's how Gabby remembers it.