During sophomore year at Penn, we lived on the same floor in Harrison College House! We first met at a potluck thrown by Alex and his roommates during the first week of school. Lauren and her roommate brought a salad to the potluck party, which was appreciated by everyone, but went wholly untouched. When the potluck was over, the roommates argued over who would return the full salad bowl to Lauren. Luckily, Alex won the argument and the rest is history!

The planning started months in advance when Alex snuck off to Atlanta to ask Lauren's parents for their blessing. Once they agreed, Alex immediately began looking for a ring. He went into a store in Hoboken after doing precisely zero research, and the jeweler promptly turned him away to do some homework. Alex asked for help from Lauren's best friend, Diana. She took Lauren to dinner and asked her to look at some photos of rings with her to see what Lauren liked best. Together, Alex and Diana gave the jeweler a design that was unique for Lauren. Alex picked the 4th of July to propose so that we could gather family and friends at the lake without raising any of Lauren's suspicions. 24 hours before Alex was supposed to get on a plane to Atlanta, he went to pick up the ring from the jeweler. To his horror, the ring they had made for him was the wrong design! The jeweler offered to fix it within 24 hours and overnight the ring to Atlanta, which did not put Alex at ease. But FedEx saved the day and the ring arrived the next day with the correct design. The day of July 4th, Alex's family, Lauren's family and family friends were all making their way to the lake. Lauren's friends almost ruined the surprise on several occasions! They asked her to repaint her fingernails, put on "something nice," and were trying to do her hair for her. While Lauren was upstairs making appetizers, everyone gathered down at the dock and waited for her to come back down. As soon as Lauren got down to the dock, Alex pulled Lauren aside and told her that he was glad we were able to gather everyone here today. Then, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She said yes, and the crowd rejoiced! Even the dogs were unable to contain their excitement. Toasts were made, parties were had, dinner was eaten, and fireworks closed out the evening. A busy day, but one that we'll remember forever.