We met via the Best Man, Daniel Tomm, who played wingman to our relationship. Daniel dragged Josh out to the closing celebration of the Irish Pub, Mr. Dennehy's, which the Merkley crew frequented for happy hours. Josh was immediately drawn to Sloan’s big smile and social butterfly energy, which helped coax him out of his usual quiet demeanor. Sloan had always thought Josh was handsome and wondered what such a nice guy was doing in New York City (a rarity!). After talking to Sloan for a bit, Josh took the opportunity to lean in for a kiss and was surprised to be immediately shut down when Sloan put her arm out to stop him. Always a gentleman, Josh immediately apologized and Sloan was taken aback, expecting him to have stormed away after the rejection. A few hours later as the clock struck midnight, Sloan had changed her tune and the two shared their first kiss as Mr. Dennehy’s shut its door for the last time.

Sloan never expected to be surprised by a proposal. She had gone ring shopping with Josh, was a frequent user of the Find My Friends app, and frankly, did not think there was any time in her busy social schedule for a surprise. Josh, under the guise of an upcoming visit from our friends, Nena and Tre, used their NYC trip to his advantage as Sloan started to plan the entire weekend itinerary. Little did she know, she was actually hard at work planning her own surprise engagement. With slight nudges to Sloan and secret conversations with Nena, Josh had planted enough seeds to trick Sloan into adding a stop at Gapstow Bridge in Central Park to the itinerary. Meanwhile, Sloan’s brother, Colin, and her best friend, Sam, flew in and coordinated a picnic by the bridge with our local friends behind the scenes. As we walked through the winding paths of Central Park, Sloan was in full tour guide mode, making sure to point out memories from past dates and saying "This is where Josh and I ice skated the day I asked him to be my boyfriend," "Over there is the zoo where we had one of our first dates," and finally "Here's the bridge where we saw the ‘Magic Duck!’" Josh seized the moment to guide Sloan to the center of the bridge and took a knee.