Celebrate with us!

Mat and Madeline first met at ASU Hillel where Madeline was working as the Innovation Specialist hosting Shabbat dinners and weekly bagel brunches and Mat was leading Shabbat prayer services as an alumni. Mat was eager to meet the new staff member and so he asked her out for coffee. They went for coffee and had an okay time. They continued to chat here and there at Friday night Shabbat dinners. Madeline casually flirted, but Mat didn’t take the bait until a few months later. Just before New Year's Eve 2017, it finally occurred to Mat that there might be a spark between him and this girl. He Facebook messaged her, suggesting that they “get to know each other better outside the walls of Hillel” and he invited her out for dinner. Madeline needed to ask an alumnus of ASU to speak at a high school event, so she figured she could accomplish both tasks with this dinner….. and just maybe this boy would turn out to be an eligible bachelor. They went out to dinner and talked about growing up in AZ, their college experiences, and startups. Fortunately, Madeline had taken courses on startups for her innovation role so she was able to understand Mat’s crazy entrepreneurial ideas. In fact, she thought his passion and creativity was exciting! Mat was impressed by Madeline’s varied interests in fashion and sustainability, how intellectual and artistic she was at the same time. Madeline was supposed to go to a dance audition that night, but she never made it because she didn’t want the night to end. Later that night when they were both home, Mat texted Madeline “So when are we going out again?” And they continued to go out again and again.

On April 13, 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic and the 7th day of Passover, Mat decided that he didn’t just want this incredible girl to be his girlfriend, he wanted her to be his wife. While Madeline was busy finishing writing her own original Haggadah for a virtual Passover seder for friends, Mat picked up his late Nana’s vintage diamond wedding ring (he knows his sustainable missus very well!). During the seder, Mat hid the Afikoman, the dessert matzah traditionally hidden for the youngest child to find, for Madeline to find later. Madeline is exactly 2 weeks younger than Mat, so clearly the youngest in the household. After dinner, Mat reminded Madeline that she still needed to find the Afikoman. 5 minutes…. 10 minutes… okay let’s be real 15 minutes later, Madeline finally discovered the Afikoman hidden under the pillow, but that wasn’t all she found. She also found a JEWELRY box with it and Mat proposed. Beaming from ear-to-ear, Madeline said YES! Here’s to many more adventures, entrepreneurial ideas, flirting, and Jewish holidays for these two.

Sustainability is an important value for us both, which is why we have been incredibly intentional about our choice of location and vendors throughout our wedding planning. As some of you know, Madeline has a passion for protecting the environment ,which started by learning about the effects of clothing waste while studying fashion in her undergrad. This has now grown into her new favorite topic as she works to complete her Master's in Natural Resources. Mat has happily gone along with adapting to composting, recycling every jar and plastic bag, utilizing bar soap instead of liquid, and dealing with an old car. We can't wait to share more about our journey to make a sustainable wedding! Our save the dates were printed by PaperChase, an organization that utilizes FSC-certified paper and plants a tree with each order! Stay tuned for more thoughtful details. In the meantime, please consider donating to the "carbon offsets" fund in our registry <3

Thank you to dear friend Emily Lewis for the drawing on our Save the Dates. Follow her for more fashion figurine drawings on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theperfectfitstyleco/. In addition, thank you to Nathan Okh for taking incredible engagement photos for us. Find his website right here: https://www.livelovepix.com