It all started at Allstate, with a typical meeting focused on an important work project. Brandon was leading a referral program & Christina was consulting on the communication rollout plan. There were eight colleagues in the room, but two took special interest in some unique things other than the project in planning. Brandon noticed how confident, smart & intuitive Christina was, even after only two years into her Allstate career. Christina noticed what a natural leader Brandon was; his charisma & his humor stood out to her immediately. What we would all find out later was that Christina couldn't help but notice how handsome Brandon was with his big blue eyes while Brandon couldn't stop thinking about how breathtakingly beautiful Christina was! But at that time, work came first, of course. Several months later, Brandon & Christina were invited to a colleague's going away party. They sat next to each other at the restaurant & talked for almost 5 hours, completely oblivious to anything & anyone else around them. Before they knew it, it was 9:00 pm & being a work night, it was time to head home. Brandon was sad they had to part ways but was pleasantly surprised when Christina called him moments after she got in her car only to ask, "Hey, are you hungry?" Without hesitation, they drove to a local pizza place where they had their first unofficial date. From that moment, their friendship & admiration grew stronger. Being in a relationship in the workplace turned out to be more of a benefit to them than a distraction. They understood the nature of each other’s work & mutually respected each other's career aspirations; this made it easy to support one another both personally & professionally. Together, they grew their relationship along with their careers & their mutual work friends quickly became one work family. They feel blessed to have the best of both worlds!

Beautiful, sunny Florida, a birthday & an engagement ring – three ingredients for the perfect proposal!   Brandon had it all planned out to the minute! The surprise proposal would be on a private beach, overlooking the sunset at the Sanibel Harbor Marriott Resort & Spa, followed by a romantic dinner for two under the stars. They were on their annual Cape Coral, Florida vacation - but this year would top them all! “I could go for a massage”, Brandon said, knowing Christina would jump at the opportunity. “You relax in the pool babe, & I’ll book us a couple’s massage”, he said, knowing Christina was already reviewing five-star resorts nearby. She let him take the lead - little did she know, he had already booked the massages & was actually calling her mom to practice the phonetic pronunciation of “will you be my wife?” in Ukrainian.   It was a good thing June 1 was Brandon’s birthday - as he was certain he could count on Christina to just go with the flow. After a fun day at Fort Myers beach, they arrived at Sanibel Harbor for their 4:00 pm massages. Brandon now had to keep Christina entertained for a few more hours until his surprise. Why a few more hours? Well, June 1, 2019 called for an 8:17 pm sunset, & a 7:40 pm proposal would leave exactly 30 minutes of private pictures before his romantic dinner under the stars. To help with logistics, Brandon worked with the resort concierge many months prior to the big day. The day of, Melissa made a fake phone call to the restaurant in front of Christina claiming they only had a 7:40 pm dinner reservation available. After pre-dinner cocktails & a few secret text messages to the hidden photographer, it was time! Melissa walked them through the resort & down the outside steps which opened up to a gorgeous, intimate beach cove.   Brandon walked Christina down the candle-lit beach, got down on one knee & said “You make me happier every day & I want you in my life forever, so I can be happy forever. Чи ти станеш моєю дружиною?”