Third date's the charm! On this site you can find all the details for the big day, get tips for making the most of your trip to the Bay Area and let us know if you can join us. To RSVP, please follow the link on this website’s menu, in the top-left corner. Please RSVP by June 1, 2022. Stay tuned for more details about our welcome drinks on Friday night, July 15!

Sparks flew at the party after The Daily Cardinal's victory in the annual softball game against its campus rival in the spring of 2011. But it wasn't until a year later, after Taylor returned from a semester in South Africa, that she and Nico finally went on their first date at the High Noon Saloon. Over the next seven years, they would build a life together that stretched from Lake Mendota to Lake Merritt, and from the streets of Colombia to the mountains of Vietnam. There were be more concerts, at the High Noon, Eaux Claires and the Fox Theater. More beers, at the Caribou, the Raven, a Hanoi street corner, La Colina and Room 389. More dinners, at the Old Fashioned, Heritage and Nido. Wherever they went, or however far they were from one another physically, they always found a home in one another, and in the community of friends and family — plus one sweet, smiley puppy — that joined them on the journey. By 2019, it was time to take the next step.

The crashing waves of the Pacific. A cool ocean breeze on a sweltering day. The rugged beauty of Golden Gate Park's western edge. Taylor was expecting Nico to get down on one knee at any moment that afternoon in San Francisco. It was a decoy. As they started the drive back to Oakland, a ring decidedly not on Taylor's finger, Nico cued up a playlist he'd made of their favorite songs. Now it was time for the real thing. When they made it back to Oakland, Nico drove past their usual exit, and turned instead up the road to Redwood Regional Park. It was the place where they'd gone on one of their first Bay Area hikes, the place to seek peace and quiet when the world seemed too frantic, the place they took Rosie the day after adopting her. On this day, they hiked down to the serene grove of second-growth redwoods at the valley's floor, where Nico — finally — got down on one knee.

Two things became clear to Taylor and Nico as the spring of 2020 wore on. The first: they weren’t going to be able to have the wedding with friends and family they’d planned for that summer. And the second: they didn’t want to wait to get married. So they hatched a plan for an intimate elopement on California’s rugged northern coast, long one of their favorite places to visit. On July 18, with just an officiant and a photographer there, they found an especially scenic cliffside spot in Mendocino Headlands State Park where they could share their vows with each other and tie the knot. They spent the next week honeymooning their way across Northern California’s parks and mountains. It was a moment they will always treasure — but now they’re looking forward to sharing their vows in front of their beloved community.