It all started with a note. On August 6, 2018 Marie was with some girlfriends at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport flying home to NYC. A very tall and handsome stranger sat down across the way in their gate area. Little did Marie know, Ritz noticed her right away and chose to sit near her on purpose. Marie was honestly oblivious the whole time as she was on her phone, sipping her morning mimosa. Ritz made a joke to get Marie's attention and she looked up at him for the first time, laughing and smiling. He soon boarded the plane and thought that was the end of their story. Thank goodness for Marie's friend Arielle (we really do owe her all the credit for our love story); she turned to Marie and said "You know that guy keeps checking you out...you should give him your number." And with that, Marie wrote the note that would change everything. As Marie boarded the plane, she noticed Ritz was sitting in the first row, seat 1F. She shyly made her way to row 14, excited and nervously awaiting the note she was about to write. In true Marie form, she wrote the note pretending to be her friend, rather than herself. She handed the note to the less than thrilled flight attendant who then proceeded to hand the note to Ritz. Ritz opened the infamous note which read, "My friend Marie (seat 14B) thinks you're cute, you should call her sometime 203-XXX-XXXX." Ritz turned around to look at Marie, who immediately ducked below her seat in a fit of nervousness. The flight came and went, and Marie thought she'd never hear from Ritz again. Two days later, as she's leaving a movie theater (remember those?), she receives a text, "Hi Marie. It's Ritz, the plane guy." And the rest was history.

Fast forward two years later, on November 27, 2020 at Rosie Roman's first birthday, Ritz gets down on one knee in front of Marie's whole family and pops the question! They couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of their lives together and can't wait to celebrate with you all in September 2022!