let's celebrate

Bryon moved to New York City in December 2015 from New Jersey after accepting a position with L'Oréal in Hudson Yards. He signed up for multiple online dating websites, including Coffee Meets Bagel, shortly after moving. Jess moved to New York City in March 2016 from Chicago to attend Cornell's Physician Assistant Program. Soon after she moved, she was newly single and was on the mend. One Saturday night in November, she felt ready to date again and signed up for Coffee Meets Bagel because she knew a couple of friends who had met their significant others on that site. On Sunday, less than 24 hours after signing up, she was matched with a few eligible men, one of whom was Bryon. She remembers seeing his first picture and thinking, "Wow, he's so cute! He looks like such a put together adult. Is it BRyon or BYron??" He messaged her and she remembers the first thing he said was, "You have such a cute dog!" An instant gold star for Bryon. He asked for her number two or three days later, took her to a sushi restaurant on Saturday (to which he was 10 minutes late, ahem ahem), and that was that!

She had been nudging at a ring for a few months, and when she told him what kinds of shapes of diamonds she liked, he said, "I don't like those. Ring pop instead?" It was almost Thanksgiving and Jess and Bryon were planning to have Thanksgiving dinner early with Jess' family in Chicago on Tuesday that week and then come back with her dad, step-mom, and brother for Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day with Bryon's family. She hoped this week would be the perfect opportunity for him to pop the question. Two days before dinner with Jess' family, they were planning to go downtown Chicago to see Jess' friend, Sarah. On the way to Sarah's apartment, Bryon said he wanted to stop at the Chicago Yacht Club where they had been many times and where Jess had been a member since childhood. Frustrated this had to happen right then, she reluctantly drove them to the club. They walked up to the locked gate and she said, "Are we hopping the gate?" He said, "No, I actually brought you here for something else." He said some very kind words that had her wondering, "Why is he saying this?? What's happening?" And then he pulled out a box from his jacket pocket, got down on one knee, and that was that! ** If you want another good story about the proposal, ask us about Bryon asking for Mr. Fine's permission to propose. **

The original wedding date was set to April 3, 2021. Unfortunately due to lack of widely available vaccines and concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to postpone the large celebration with all their friends and family. Still wishing to get married, they planned a smaller wedding in Bryon's parent's backyard with their immediate families and the wedding party. It was a blast, but they are looking forward to celebrating with everyone on April 30, 2022!