we’re getting married !

Meeting in our childhood hometown was the greatest and yet sweetest surprise. Our first date was nothing short of spectacular… We started out at a coffee shop as you do, and then worked our way across a few thrift stores. After a few hours, Matt suggested we go to dinner and he didn’t just make dinner reservations at one restaurant but three different restaurants to allow me to choose! After we made our way to the restaurant, View 202, we listened to a live jazz performer play and talked for not one, not two, but 5 hours! Before we knew it we had barely touched our food, partially from nerves but mostly because we couldn’t stop talking. It had felt like finally meeting the person I had waited my whole life to meet. The restaurant was closing down so we made it back out to our cars and said goodbye. I remember calling my best friends, and telling them how I had just gone on the best first date and I didn’t want it to end even though we had just spent the last 8… yes, I know 8 hours together. I had the idea of asking him back out for a drink and karaoke. They encouraged me to ask him and so I did. By this point in time, Matt was already back at his house and getting ready for bed but when I asked him if he wanted to continue our date with drinks and karaoke his response was immediately: “ Tonight? Send me the address and I’m there.” My spontaneous partner in crime Ha! We arrived at the local karaoke bar and Matt signed up to sing a song… He was keeping it a surprise but when he got up on that stage and the intro to Dancing Queen by Abba started playing I knew he was the perfect person for me. We both rocked out to some karaoke and had the best time together! I remember an older lady that night had come up to us and had asked us how long we had been together and I told her oh it’s actually our first date today and she looked up at both Matt and I and told me “What you two have found is something truly special”. I always remembered that and looking back now I couldn’t agree more. Our first date was truly something special but it was just the beginning of the years of adventure to follow… Just to name a few of the adventures… we’ve traveled up and down the west coast to visit family and friends, we’ve taken a glass fusing art class together, gone to countless art museums, he was one of my biggest supporters as I spent endless long nights in my studio preparing for grad school applications, we traveled across the country to visit graduate school programs together, and we drove five beautiful and long days across the country to Knoxville, Tennessee where we now both live. We then planned an incredible trip to London and Northern Italy together where Matt proposed to me overlooking the breathtaking city of Florence. The last few years have been full of some of the greatest adventures and now we can’t wait to enter into this new chapter of our lives together! Thank you for letting us share our love with all of you and we can’t wait to celebrate all together! Love, Juls and Matt