We got married!

If you ask NAARIA: Brian first slid into my Instagram DMs in January of 2022, but I didn't see it until April of 2022 when he sent another message responding to my post about moving to DC for grad school at Georgetown. His first line was “How come we haven’t met before?”. I thought it was funny, and I couldn’t help but smile. Plus, when I checked his profile, I thought he was REALLY cute! Turns out, we had a lot of mutual friends and had been following each other for years. Brian and my good friend/bridesmaid, Ilana, actually went to college together at Georgia Southern. Of course, I had to get the tea from Ilana. She only had good things to say about Brian so he passed the vibe check with flying colors. And that's when we started messaging each other daily. We went from DMs to texting essays back and forth, and just like that, our long-distance relationship bloomed. We then upgraded to FaceTime calls and were laughing together nonstop. Brian finally made this “casual” trip to DC in August 2022 to “visit his cousin Michelle.” (we all know who he really went up there to see), and it didn’t take him long to sweep me off my feet and charm his way into making me fall hard for him. By September 10th, 2022, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. Honestly, he's everything I prayed for—literally my dream guy. We connected on everything and kept God as our foundation. Brian’s the most loving, kind, intelligent, witty, funny, handsome, and strongest guy I know. I couldn’t say yes fast enough when Brian asked me to marry him on our vacation in St. Lucia in August of 2023. I was SO surprised, but it meant the world to me that he asked for my dad’s blessing beforehand. I’m so excited to be joining our families, and I can’t wait for 10/18/2024! <3 If you ask BRIAN: In January 2022, I was scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon Naaria's profile. Couldn't help but shoot my shot with a message: "How come we haven’t met before?" Maybe not my best line, but hey, it got her attention...eventually. April 2022, when I saw she was moving to DC for grad school, I sent her a quick "Congratulations" message. She finally responded, and we've been talking every day since. What blew my mind was finding out we’ve been circling around each other for years, thanks to mutual friends. When I learned she knew Ilana from my college days, I couldn’t believe our paths hadn’t crossed sooner. Naaria, being the detective she is, did a background check on me through Ilana – and lucky for me, Ilana only had good stuff to say. Our conversations were strong right from the start. We went from casual DMs to texting paragraphs back and forth every day, and before we knew it, we were FaceTiming and sharing dreams until the early hours. I decided to make a trip to DC in August to visit my cousin. But let’s be real – The main reason I was there was to meet Naaria in person. It didn’t take long for me to realize she was the one. So, on September 10th, 2022, I asked her to make things official. Naaria is my dream girl – kind, smart, hilarious, and stunningly beautiful. Our connection is something out of a movie. The proposal in St. Lucia went perfectly, and I was so happy she said yes. I can’t wait to marry this incredible woman and start our next chapter together. October 18th, 2024 can’t come soon enough. It’s going to be an amazing celebration of our journey and the amazing life we’re building together. Get ready to party with us!