Michael and I officially met on his family vacation in Stone Harbor in July of 2018. However, I have known of him since 7th grade when I became friends with his cousin, Chris, but we never really made the effort to talk. All throughout high school I would see pictures of Chris on his family vacation, and it looked so fun. I told him that one day I will make sure I am on that vacation. What do you know many years later he invited me to go with our friend Gabby. Before the vacation Chris would tell me all about how Michael really likes me and wants to get to know me. Because of that, I was very nervous to go on the vacation knowing he was going to be there. On the very first night we had a couple drinks in us and that’s when everything went off. The whole week we spent a lot of time together getting to know each other and it was the best week ever! But then the last day came along and we decided to try this long-distance thing since he was living in Philly at the time. During the first 10 months of our relationship, we spent a lot of time apart and driving back and forth from Philly to Pittsburgh, but it was all worth it the day Michael moved home in 2019. In early 2020 we moved into our first apartment together in the North Shore of Pittsburgh and got to spend a lot of time together while stuck at home during covid. But the timing of everything was perfect for us. After all the memories we have together we are so excited to be getting married in the same spot we met! Here’s to forever and ever! Thanks Chris :)

Memorial Day weekend 2018 I get a call from my cousin Christopher who was excited to tell me some news. He explained to me that his good friend Alex Stewart was going to be coming to our annual summer vacation in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, with us. Knowing I’ve been crushing on his cute blonde friend for some time now, Chris said he had to tell me this news asap so I could “properly prepare to introduce myself to her.” Fast forward to July of 2018 where I finally had my chance, and almost completely blew it. The very first opportunity I had to introduce myself, I panicked and decided to ignore Alex completely. I was too nervous to even say hi! Luckily after a little (a lot) of liquid courage and a pretty expensive bar tab, I had the bravery to introduce myself to the girl of my dreams. We hit it off instantly and have been together ever since. I knew from the moment I finally decided to talk to her that she was the girl I was going to marry. Almost a year after a series of long drives, short weekends, and endless facetime dates, I decided to move back to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia. I was nervous to do this at first, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life as I got to become even closer to Alex in the process. A few more years and countless memories later, Alex and I are in our apartment in the North Shore of Pittsburgh planning the wedding of our dreams in the very place we first met. We can’t wait to celebrate our marriage with everyone and introduce some to our favorite place in the world- Stone Harbor, New Jersey.