We met while working on adversarial teams. After grabbing drinks together a few times, Melissa tricked Dennis into going to the planetarium. Neither of us knew it was definitely a date until we had our first kiss at Boat Basin that night. Since then, we've been doing whatever it took to spend the most time together -- from hour-long commutes between Brooklyn and the East Village, to rides on the M15 bus along 1st Ave. In 2020, we moved in together and have been living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with our dog, Trinket. It feels like every day is better than the last: traveling for weekend trips, exploring the neighborhood, and having friends over (let's be honest; it's just to throw the ball for Trinket). Even though we do so much together, we couldn't be more different. Dennis likes dive bars and Melissa only drinks cocktails. Melissa wakes up early, but Dennis sleeps in. Dennis likes watching sports, while Melissa loves comics and playing video games. Over the years, we've grown more and more involved in each other's interests. Melissa now can name every player on the Rangers and Dennis buys new Star Wars shirts to go to Comic Con each year.

After blending our lives together and surviving a pandemic, working from home in a tiny NYC apartment, we knew it was going to be Melissa & Dennis forever. We got engaged in February 2022 in the Catskills in a small town called Hurleysville. Dennis made sure to book a pet-friendly place to stay so Trinket could be there for the big moment. Secretly placing the phone on the fireplace mantle set to record, Dennis rushed to get the ring. When getting down on one knee, Trinket didn't miss the chance to jump up nearby on the couch and try to knock it out of his hand while looking for attention. The moment perfectly caught on camera. After the proposal and a handful of Facetime calls, we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating by the fireplace and exploring the small town around us.