Thanks to Jswipe we found each other! Our first date was at a speakeasy bar in Harlem. Gil impressed Melissa with his refined knowledge of cocktails and love for Jazz. Melissa wooed Gil with her cake skills and love of animals. After spending hours talking about life, passion, and everything in between, we knew it was destiny.

Gil met Melissa in New Orleans where she had traveled to for a bachelorette party (shout out to Danielle)! Melissa had no idea Gil had been contacting jazz bars in New Orleans the month before, trying to arrange a surprise proposal, but they were no help:( So Gil decided to wing it! Melissa also had no idea that he had been secretly designing a dream ring for her a few months before (shout out to mike)! One night after a haunted ghost tour of the city, Gil suggests they take a walk down Bourbon street. While passing by the only Jazz bar left on Bourbon, called Prohibition Hall, Gil suggests they go inside for a beer. Melissa needs to use the ladies’ room after said beer. While she is gone, Gil goes up to the band and requests they play Nature Boy by Nat King Cole, his and Melissa's song. Melissa returns to the bar and the song starts playing. She turns to Gil and says, "OMG, can you believe they are playing our song, what are the chances!". Gil smiles and suggests they dance. No one else is dancing in the bar, but Melissa hesitantly accepts. Gil then asks a random person to take a video of them, Melissa thinks this is weird but assumes Gil just wants to capture this random special moment. After a minute of dancing Melissa says, "OK Gil, this was nice, now let’s tell this guy he can stop videoing us, hehe". At that moment Gil gets down on one knee and pulls out the ring. Melissa is completely shocked and immediately starts crying. She sees Gil talking but can’t really hear anything he is saying at that moment. As she is still crying, Gil says, "is that a yes?”. Melissa manages to pull herself together and says, "yes", and then the bar claps... and just like that we were engaged in New Orleans:)

Our wedding will be taking place at Camp Kinder Ring in Hopewell Junction, NY. It was very important for us to find a location for our wedding that felt natural and special to us. We both feel at home surrounded by nature and fresh air, so a camp felt like the perfect fit (shout out to Aunt Joyce for the recommendation!). Gil grew up on a Moshav in Israel called Srigim Li-on, in the heart of nature with a garden and caves in his backyard. Melissa's summers away at sleep away camp are some of her most cherished childhood memories. We hope you get the same feelings of happiness, excitement and peacefulness when coming to the camp! And we can not wait to rage with you!!!