It's time to celebrate

Stephanie grew up in Florida and spent her childhood in the water, whether it was in the pool as a competitive swimmer or in the ocean surfing, boating, or scuba diving. Stephanie loves kids, and at age 11, she started teaching swim lessons and coaching. She spent 15 years as a swim coach, and it solidified her desire to be part of a community and mentor others. Stephanie moved to Los Angeles, California, right after college to pursue a career as a television producer. After three years working in Hollywood, she moved to New York City to work on the Rachael Ray Show. 15 years and one Emmy Award later, she is still producing Rachael Ray and officially considers herself a New Yorker. In her free time, she loves to hang out with family and friends, travel, do SoulCycle, shop, order way too much food at restaurants, and of course, surf and swim. Kristopher grew up on the beach in Los Angeles, California. Since he was little, he has been a snow and water sports enthusiast, spending his time as a competitive ski racer and surfer. Kristopher grew up going to camp and eventually became a counselor himself. He spent 20 years working with kids as a counselor, surf coach, and film instructor. After college, Kris took a job at Disney and worked his way up to become an editor and visual effects designer for some of the top directors in the world. After a 15 year career in Hollywood, he found himself with a new opportunity that combined his passion for film and education. This job led to a career change and a move to New York. Kris has spent the past 10 years jumping between NYC, London, and Hong Kong but always feels most at home in Brooklyn. Kristopher is now the Director of International Operations & Business Development for a global Ed-Tech company and the Co-Founder of a cinematography school in Brooklyn. In his free time, Kristopher loves to go to concerts, cook, hang out with friends at his neighborhood whiskey bar, and play his guitars, ukulele, and piano.

Stephanie and Kristopher met in New York in the summer of 2019 and waited a long time to find each other. Their paths actually crossed years earlier when they were neighbors in Brentwood, California. They never formally met because Stephanie was waking up at 3am to go to work at Entertainment Tonight and then on to her second job teaching swim lessons. Kristopher was working as a film editor and visual effects artist by day and then DJ'ing at night, coming home as Stephanie was heading into work. Work eventually brought both of them to New York, with Stephanie settling in Manhattan and Kristopher in Brooklyn. Fast forward to 2019, Stephanie had always avoided online dating but decided to give it a try. Kristopher, on the other hand, had spent more time online and fatigued from the experience, set his dating radius to the shortest distance possible (one mile) in order to only meet people in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Little did Kris know that Stephanie's apartment in Manhattan was right on the river and fell within the one-mile radius he had set. They went on their first date at Soho House...in Manhattan, and immediately felt connected by their shared history and serendipitous journey to meet each other. Kristopher and Stephanie had planned to take a trip around the world in the summer of 2020 and then move in together after they returned. Instead, in March 2020, COVID hit and everything changed. Stephanie moved into Kristopher's Brooklyn apartment where they subsequently spent 24 hours a day together for the next year. While the year presented many challenges, instead of straining their relationship, it strengthened their bond and solidified their commitment to each other and their future. Kristopher proposed to Stephanie on Christmas Day, 2020. They can't wait to get married and begin the next phase of their lives together.