A Little Cosmic Wedding

Mark and Alli met in November 2019 the boring way: online. After only a brief exchange of messages, Mark distinguished himself by suggesting a first date at a local bar’s trivia night. Since trivia had long been a favorite pastime for both of them, they arrived ready for a fun evening. Competing as a team of two put them at a disadvantage, but they grabbed seats at the bar, and with a few well‑timed hints from the bartender (entirely within the rules), they managed to place solidly in the middle of the pack. It was more than enough to spark a connection worth pursuing. Since then, Mark and Alli have been building a life together. From camping trips with friends and family visits on both sides, to buying a house and adopting their cats, Arwen and Nimue. They’ve been through a lot, spent more time together than most couples, and grown into permanent lights in each other’s lives. In the spring of 2025, during a trip to Japan, Mark brought Alli to a quiet lakeside corner of Shinjuku Gyoen National Park in Tokyo. Beneath the warm midday sun, surrounded by azaleas in full bloom and ducks gliding across the water, he proposed — complete with a Lord of the Rings reference. Mark and Alli may not have won trivia that night years ago, but they turned out to be the real winners, as they are (finally) getting married on the seventh anniversary of that first date.