Gina and I met during our first term at university in Manchester, England. We got along straight away and by the time she went home to California for Christmas holiday, we were talking every day. That summer, I asked her to be my girlfriend before she left to go home, and she said no. But then I asked again when we came back for class that autumn— and she said yes! What followed grew into a 5 year relationship that has been the best time of my life. We ate pizza in Rome, drank porto in Portugal, got lost in the Christmas markets in Cologne, and floated in the sea in Santorini. We studied together, lived together and fell in love. After Gina finished her masters degree, we stayed together in our Manchester apartment until her UK visa expired. We needed to find a way to stay together, but Gina had to move home to start work at Deloitte - so we decided to be long distance while we worked out a way to get me a visa to move to the US. The visa process took almost two years. We visited each other all over the world while we waited. I eventually built up the courage to ask her to marry me, and she said yes! Finally, my visa was approved at the end of May and on the 16th of June 2019 I finally took the leap — I moved over from the UK to California to set up a new life with the best, most loving person I have ever met. I'm here on a K-1 visa, so we only have 90 days to get married. Things are moving fast, but we couldn't be happier and we're living our best life in California!

There is so much for us to do and prepare for the wedding and the life thereafter, and we are so grateful to the family and friends whom have supported us along the way. I would like to thank all of Gina's family for taking me in and accepting me into the family, it has been so great getting to know you all. We are celebrating our engagement on the 24th of August, shortly followed by our wedding on the 27th. We're both so excited for the adventures to come and hope that you will all join us for the ride of a lifetime!