It was a day just like any other when Mike & Christina moved into the same apartment building their Sophomore year at Gettysburg College in 2013. For some reason, the school decided to put 8 football players on the top floor of the apartment and the 7 girls on the bottom floor. Never-the-less, introductions were made and the tight friendships between these two groups began. Mike started to have his eyes on a particular member of the downstairs crew not long after the first introduction. Although Christina wasn't initially interested, Mike persisted. He stowed away a wine bottle in the foyer of his fraternity house and bribed Christina with it to come over to share it with him. (you have to remember how hot of a commodity an actual bottle and not a box of wine was in college...). After talking all night over a bottle of wine, they began to spend more and more of their time together over the course of the rest of that year. They decided to become official before leaving to go home for the summer. Fast forward a few years…after graduating college, Christina moved into an apartment in the Upper East Side with her best friends while Mike moved into an apartment in Long Beach with his brother and best friend. Summers at the beach and winters in the city proved to be a great balance for these two until it was time to make the decision to live together after four years of living apart. The big issue - Mike had adopted a dog named Tide and Christina was allergic. Not to mention Mike loved the beach and Christina did not want to leave the city. Neither distance, nor dissimilar tastes in ideal living environments and not even allergies could keep these two from starting the next chapter living together. While Christina wanted to stay in Manhattan and Mike wanted to live by the beach, they ‘compromised’ and moved right in the middle to Brooklyn. From then on the happy couple and their furry third wheel, Tide, began loving this new chapter of their lives together until a few months later, COVID hit. Moving in with your partner is a tough enough adjustment for most, never mind being quarantined during a global pandemic. Mike and Christina started going on long walks all over different parts of Brooklyn, admiring all of the different and unique qualities of each neighborhood. It became their favorite weekend plans. One place in particular stuck out as their favorite - Red Hook. They had the best burger in the city at Red Hook Tavern, fresh lobster rolls at Red Hook Lobster Pound and visited the Red Hook Winery, located in a stunning old factory. It was there, outside of the Red Hook Winery and with Tide, that Mike proposed to Christina in July 2022. And now here we are, planning a wedding by a beach....see? compromise!