By the way, we're still getting married (again)!

Max and Stephanie were born over 5,800 miles apart - Max in Belarus and Stephanie in San Francisco. Fast forward 20+ years and both of them found their way together in their current home of Chicago!

Max and Stephanie met in April of 2017, during one of the first nice days after a long Chicago winter. Naturally, everyone was in good sprits and enjoying the nice weather. Stephanie was out with co-workers and Max out with his roommate. His roommate urged Max to come up and approach Stephanie. Stephanie was skeptical at first, but after one of her co-workers recognized Max and vouched for him, this random run in turned out to be both an instant (and serendipitous) background check. After a series of confusing text exchanges, which led to the ultimate communication break down, Stephanie and Max ended up at two different places for their first date. They eventually found their bearings and the rest is history!

The worst surprise is getting stuck with an expensive piece of jewelry you don't like. Stephanie and Max didn't take any chances with this and designed their engagement ring together. When the ring was finalized, Max picked the least obvious hiding place ever to stash it - the night stand. One day, Stephanie was out "looking for some stamps" and, to her dismay, ended up stumbling across the engagement ring!! Max immediately found a new, better hiding spot for it and brought it with him to a trip the two had planned to Savannah, Georgia. After sweating through two to three shirts out of nervousness, Max finally got the courage to pop the question. Steph said yes and the two have since been living sweatily ever after!

As many of you know, Max and Stephanie decided to make their marriage official earlier this year after having to postpone their 2020 wedding. Now that the worst of the pandemic is (hopefully) behind us, they are very much looking forward to celebrating their marriage, in-person, with all their family and friends!