We said yes! We are so excited to celebrate with you. Find all the details you need for our big day here!

On October 30th 2021, Melina and Mark matched on Hinge. Melina wasn’t planning on falling in love, she had a three month trip to Europe planned. Then Mark had to come along and ruin all of that. Our first date was November 6th, we got tea downtown and walked around talking. We immediately hit it off. Since Melina was living in Poulsbo at the time, we could only see each other on weekends, which gave us plenty of time to talk and get to know each other deeper. We quickly found that talking to each other was as easy as breathing, we talked about board games, music, food, cocktails, religion, philosophy, politics and everything else. We would talk to each other whenever we could. There may have been a few all-nighters. In February, Melina moved across the water to live in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. This meant instead of living two hours apart, we now lived just 20 minutes apart. Seeing each other more often, we quickly realized that what we had was something special and like nothing else either of us had ever experienced. That summer, we spent so much time with each other, we practically lived together. We officially moved in together December 2022 when Mark bought a house! Melina's dog Shasta also moved in with us, coming from Melina's parents' house. Shasta quickly fit right in with us to form the start our little family.

November 2022. Just a year after we met, we knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and be married. Back in the second grade, Melina had picked out the day she wanted to get married: June 21st, the summer solstice. So our date was set! Now we just had to work backwards. It was important to us to propose to one another and both wear an engagement ring to signify our commitment to each other. So we woke up on a Saturday and spent it trying on rings. Melina found the ring of her dreams immediately (when she knows what she wants, she knows what she wants) But none of the men’s rings were up to Melina’s standards for Mark. She wanted him to have both an engagement and wedding ring so she met with a custom jeweler. His ring would take about six months to come together and we didn’t want to announce our engagement without exchanging rings so for the next seven months, we were secretly betrothed. (Except Melina told her immediate family within a week because she was too excited.) March 2023. Mark’s parents came to visit! Melina asked for their blessing which they happily and tearfully gave. Planning was already underway both for our engagement and our wedding. We booked our venue and photographer. May 2023. Mark asked Melina’s parents for their blessing! They said yes! There was a lot of celebrating and tears. June 17, 2023. We knew that we wanted to wake up with intention and spend the entire day of our proposal in celebration. So we chose the Saturday closest to our wedding date as the day we would propose to each other. Mark suggested that we wake up and get brunch (Melina’s favorite meal). We went to Toulouse Petit Kitchen in Queen Anne and they sat us in a booth. We were dressed to the 9's and they gave us beignets on the house. It was the best brunch we've ever had. We had planned a picnic engagement so we headed to our favorite grocery store next--the Greenlake PCC. We picked up champagne, strawberries, and a baguette before stopping off at home. We said hello to our dog, Shasta, and then headed to the Ballard Locks. As we walked through the gardens towards the water, we heard an orchestra playing and stumbled upon an outdoor concert. They were playing great love songs from Broadway musicals and it was simply magical and completely unexpected. We found a private spot near the locks and read each other the letters we had written and exchanged rings. While Mark was reading his letter, the orchestra played "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera. They played "A Heart Full of Love" from Les Miserables while Melina read her letter for Mark. When we got down on one knee for each other, people across the locks cheered. We shared some of our picnic (although we forgot the champagne we had bought on our kitchen counter) and then we called our families and texted friends. We continued the celebration by going to Little Tin Apothecary--a speak easy that we love. They gave us some champagne (Yay!) and we had a couple of delicious cocktails before meeting up with some close friends for an intimate and celebratory dinner at Gracia. It was the best day ever with the best partner ever. We are so excited for our marriage.