Brianne and Chad met through Ernst & Young’s (EY) audit practice. Chad was based out of the Indy office and Brianne out of Detroit. After a few years working on Detroit clients primarily in the automotive industry, Brianne wanted new experience, preferably on a client in the Sustainability/Renewables space, and was placed on a client based out of Indianapolis. Luckily for her, she and her new manager (Chad) quickly hit it off and became fast work besties. When Brianne’s Detroit apartment lease ended, she moved to Indy temporarily to be closer to her team. For about 2 months, Brianne lived out of an Airbnb sponsored by the firm, which allowed for more in-person interactions. When she notified Chad she accepted an offer for a new job based in Chicago, it didn’t take long from there for Chad to admit his feelings for Brianne, which she reciprocated, and they started dating immediately after she officially left the firm. The rest is history!

Story background: Brianne lived in Chicago and Chad in Indianapolis. Over the summer, Chad was coming to Brianne more than she to him. Since that resulted in her usually curating their plans, Chad decided he wanted to make some “Sunday Funday” plans for them one day - fine by Brianne! August 18th rolled around and Chad informed Brianne that they needed to be ready by 9:30 AM for their first event at 10 AM. A little after 10 AM (running late of course - oops) Chad surprised Brianne by saying their first “event” didn’t involve going anywhere at all, but was staying in at her apartment, having mimosas, and painting portraits of each other (a fun date idea Brianne previously sent to him). So Brianne worked really hard on a beautiful picture of Chad, and when reveal time came around, it was to discover Chad didn’t paint Brianne at all, but painted an engagement ring with “Marry Me?” written inside it. It was truly such a surprise! He then led Brianne into her living room, got down on one knee, and proposed. It was just the two of them and very special. Then the remainder of the day Chad had more surprises in store: real brunch, a tiki boat ride, rooftop drinks, and dinner at a restaurant Brianne had been wanting to try. It was such a perfect day!