To this day, nobody can say with exact certainty how Melissa and Matthew met. To hear him tell it, he locked eyes with a beautiful young lady in a polka dot blouse, and charmed her into giving him her number. To hear her tell it, some weird guy wearing a gold chain approached her in a crowded Lower East Side bar, and his advances were met with IMMENSE skepticism. Either way, he did get her number (whether it was from a mutual friend or not, who’s to say?). 4 days later there was a good first date, followed by a bad second date, and then a redeeming third date. Followed by daily phone calls, the formation of inside jokes, and after 3 months, a title: boyfriend and girlfriend. Then came their first couple’s trip, their first “I love you’s,” holidays with the family, and a global pandemic where a “temporary” move into her apartment became a permanent state of affairs. Matt’s father used to say that life should be an adventure. If that’s true, Matt and Melissa are the perfect adventure partners. Over the past 5+ years, they’ve quite literally experienced everything together — from the highs of traveling the world to the lows of deep personal loss — and handled it all with love, compassion, dedication, and a deep and abiding commitment to silly behavior other people find annoying. This Spring marks the culmination of their first adventure and the beginning of their next one: marriage. This will be their best adventure yet because it includes all of you: their closest family and friends. We look forward to starting our next adventure together on June 21, 2025.