Thank you to those who celebrated our special day with us and to those who sent love from afar - The Willitzers

We met through a mutual friend of ours at the Rathskeller Biergarten in downtown Indianapolis. Netasha had just moved to Indianapolis to pursue her new role and decided to go grab some food and drinks with her coworkers. Lucas was already acquainted with some of Netasha's work friends and introduced himself to her that night. The following evening, they saw each other again at a friend's birthday party, where Lucas struck up a conversation with Netasha and managed to grab her number by the end of the night. They parted ways, but almost immediately after, Lucas texted her asking if she wanted pizza from the infamous Hot Box Pizza - she respectfully declined, thinking she barely knows the guy (her parents taught her well hahah). Lucas was a little thrown off (who turns down free pizza on a Saturday night?!), but that did not stop him from continuing to pursue a conversation with her. Knowing that Netasha was new to town, wanting her to feel comfortable, and let's be honest - also having a little crush on her, he invited her to join him on a boat the following weekend. We really hit it off right away and the rest is history! We are so lucky to have found one another so quickly and we are excited to continue on this journey together, with plenty of pizza and boat rides along the way.

We practically spent every day together since we met on August 2nd, 2019; we got to know each other fairly quickly and we were developing a very strong friendship with of course underlying feelings of wanting to pursue one another as more than friends. Lucas (FINALLY!) asked Netasha out on a proper date on August 29th and they went and got dinner at the famous Iaria's Italian Restaurant in the Fountain Square neighborhood. Although they had been spending so much time together, the context of it being an official date made them a little nervous - rather than her usual sweatpants and tank top at home, Netasha put on a summer dress and did her hair and Lucas actually groomed his beard and put on some cologne. What started off a little awkward almost immediately turned into something familiar and comfortable. Food really is the key to Netasha's heart by the way - that and her dog Charlie.

We took our first big trip together in March of 2020, traveling to Austin, TX - Netasha's favorite city and where she moved to Indianapolis from. Being in Austin was a pivotal moment for Lucas - he realized then that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Netasha. We had talked about marriage and what we wanted in our future and we knew early on that we were on the same page. Netasha always admired Lucas' commitment to his faith, his kind heart, and his determination to always put her first. Lucas bought a ring in the middle of a global pandemic and held on to it until the middle of summer - Netasha's favorite season. On June 28th, he told Netasha that they were going to go out on a nice date night. Netasha usually takes forever to pick out her outfits and always asks Lucas for his opinion. So, Lucas picked out a white dress for her, she got ready, and they hit the road. On their way, Lucas asked Netasha if she wanted to take a walk along the White River as they were a little early for their reservation. Keep in mind, it's the end of June and its sweltering hot, so Netasha was not the happiest about this walk, but she obliged. She continued to talk to Lucas and ask him questions about where they were going, how his day was, etc., but he was strangely quiet. They get out of the car and begin their walk along the river - unknown to Netasha, Lucas had hid the ring in his sock until he got out of the car and swiftly switched it to his front pocket. As they're walking, Netasha catches glimpse of a photographer and almost instantly knew that this was big - Lucas was going to propose! He (with the help of some wonderful friends) set up a table with peonies, candles, and champagne along the sidewalk and had someone there to capture it all! In the city we met, in front of the skyline along the river, Netasha said yes to her forever.