Josh and I had spent time together before what we consider our first date. However this particular rainy day stands out to us as our official first date because it was when we finally had the courage to call our day together a “date” During the spring of my third year of college, Josh and I took a drive on a very rainy Saturday afternoon. We ended up in downtown Chagrin Falls where he had been working with his company on a new-build house. We pulled up to the random skeleton of a house with no walls or ceiling and Josh got out of the car and walked right in the front door and started showing me around. We were absolutely trespassing, but Josh didn’t seem to be worried so I just followed along as we explored this rather large house and laughed about the possibility of getting caught. We then went on to go to a small restaurant that at the time was called Jekyll’s. We went into this fairly fancy little restaurant soaking wet from our spontaneous exploring in the rain and sat at the bar overlooking the waterfall. Josh immediately ordered me a drink that was served over dry-ice and had smoke pouring over the edge. Without hesitation, he told me he thought it was the coolest drink on the menu (pun intended). After a few drinks and what felt like minutes, but was really hours of talking and laughing we declared that our first pet together should be named Jekyll, which didn’t happen, but sure seemed like a great idea that day. Little did we know this would be what we look back on as the silly and perfect beginning of our forever. -Ally

When I finally found the courage to ask Ally to marry me I knew I needed to accomplish a few things first. I started with asking permission from her parents. They needed some help with an electrical problem at their house so I waited for a day that I could go over to help while she was at work. I arrived to her parents house and was profusely sweating before I even got out of my car. I walked inside and proceeded to tell them the main reason I was there was actually to ask them for permission to marry their amazing daughter. To my surprise they said yes without hesitation. That’s when we moved to phase two, selecting a place! Family is everything to both Ally and I, and I new that I couldn’t propose without having all of Ally’s siblings present. It was decided that the best time would be on the annual Green family vacation, which was going to be a beach trip in San-Destin, Florida. The final thing I needed to accomplish was selecting a ring. Ally is not one for big or flashy jewelry, but I wanted to get her a ring that was both beautiful and complimented her style. I do not have the best sense of fashion when it comes to jewelry so I turned to her sister Anna for help. After a few hours of trying on rings and going through hundreds of options in their cases, we finally picked the perfect ring. To make sure it stayed secret and safe, I asked Ally’s parents to hold onto it until the day of the proposal. Fast forward a few months to our trip. We had come up with the idea to do a family photo shoot on the beach, which would give the perfect excuse for us to dress nice without making Ally suspicious of what was going on. On the walk down to the beach, Ally’s dad slipped me the ring while everyone else was searching for the perfect spot. I had spent so much time planning and envisioning this moment in my head, and now it was finally time. When Ally had looked up to face the camera, I knelt down on one knee and loud enough to be heard of the crashing waves on the beach I said “Ally” and she turned to find me on one knee. I proceeded to ask “will you marry me?”. Without even needing to say a word I knew what her answer was based of her expressions, the answer was “YES”! -Josh