Time to party!

We initially matched on a dating site, but nothing came from it other than a few sentences exchanged back and forth. Six months later, we coincidentally were in the same shore house in Sea Isle due to a mutual friend we didn't know we had (shout out to Benny Bevich!)... After getting over the initial awkwardness of having matched on a dating site (Mitch's first words to Steph were jokingly "HI, my long lost love!"), we had a blast together all week. It ended with Steph wondering if Mitch would ask her out. Everyone left the shore house at 11am, and to Steph's pleasant surprise Mitch started texting her at 11:15am. After texting nonstop all week, Mitch called Steph (Mitch always encourages his friends to “respect the call”) to ask her to dinner at Pepperoncini in Conshohocken. At our first sit-down, we discovered the first city we would travel to together...

On our first date, we discovered that we had both separately planned a trip to Denver on the exact same weekend three weeks later. Mitch was going to see one of his best friends and cousin, and Steph was going to see a good friend from college and coworkers. We both thought it was very serendipitous that we were going to be in a city across the country together on the same weekend, and as the trip grew closer we started to exchange itineraries in hopes to hang out while in Denver. As we traded details, we discovered that we were staying in the exact same apartment building on the same floor. If Mitch hadn't been the first one to volunteer the address where he was staying, Steph would have thought she had a stalker on her hands. Needless to say, we had a blast together in the mile high city, and Mitch asked a very important question...

On our second night in Denver, Mitch saw Steph get hit on at a bar and wanted to make sure she knew exactly how he felt about her – he asked her to be his girlfriend that same night. We had a natural connection that felt very right, and neither of us doubted it. Over the coming weeks, deep conversations and secrets were shared. We learned one another’s ins-and-outs, our strengths and weaknesses, our histories and our goals. A short three months later Mitch asked Steph to move in with him. Ever the voice of reason, Steph moved in five months after that – in April 2019.

As every couple knows – cohabitating adds a special element to every relationship. We both had strong connections to our first homes, so we took our time incorporating Steph’s things into the condo and adding new elements that represent our future together. We explored the neighborhood – finding a favorite restaurant in Bar Hygge, making friends with neighbors, walking Deke to Fairmount park, and sharing cocktails from our rooftop. What Steph didn’t know is that Mitch had her engagement ring hidden in the house safe since mid-March. He took his time and slowly planned his next step – asking Steph’s parents for permission to marry her.

As the summer progressed, Mitch talked to Steph’s brothers and a few best friends to clue them into his plan. Then on an early Monday in July, he told Steph that he had a meeting, put on a suit, and drove down to Middletown, DE to make “the request.” After a carefully planned PowerPoint presentation about why Jeff and Debbie should allow him to marry their daughter and a celebratory shot of Jameson whiskey, it was time to plan the proposal. Mitch coordinated with Steph’s boss and co-workers to get her out of work and home early, and had her mom and her best friend – Sandy – waiting to take her to a manicure appointment. The idea was that Steph would think the surprise was all about a “girls day” so Mitch and Jeff could set-up a surprise in the living room… but she had other plans. Steph was determined to finish her work day, so she went upstairs and asked the girls to wait. Forced to pivot, Mitch shooed Jeff and the girls out of the house and quickly set up a few tokens from our past: a bottle opener from Sea Isle City, a menu from Pepperoncini, and a pint glass from the building we stayed at in Denver. He put on a Leon Bridges song and called up to Steph “can you come down here please?” to which she lovingly responded “NO, you come up here!” After some encouragement, he convinced her to come downstairs to find his carefully planned mementos next to a custom-engraved notebook with a small square carved out of the center. When she opened the book, she found her engagement ring next to the words “my long lost love.” The last part of the surprise was that Mitch had his and Steph’s closest friends and family waiting at Bar Hygge to help us celebrate. The wedding planning began right away, and we are so excited for the big day!