Dan and Rachel first met on a fateful Wednesday night at G-Mart Comics in Logan Square at the shop’s weekly Dungeons and Dragons meet up. While Rachel ended up being whisked off to another game table, she and Dan quickly hit it off while hanging out at the bar after the game sessions each week. A particular party some weeks later solidified their friendship as they chatted and found out how much they had in common. A few months later they went on their first date at the Northman Cider Bar in Lincoln Square where they discussed their mutual appreciation of hard cider and Rachel’s imminent transfer to playing DnD at the table Dan ran on Wednesdays. By that point the pair were fairly head over heels for each other and it was painfully obvious to most people around them.

Fast forward two years and the pair had spent several months quarantined together in Rachel’s tiny studio apartment during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. They’d been together pretty much every moment together for all that time and still weren’t sick of each other, which they took as a good sign. When Cyber Monday deals rolled around that year the couple, after having discussed marriage at length already, each picked out their rings online–being in agreement that engagement rings should be chosen by the wearer and not cost an arm and a leg. Once the rings arrived by mail the race was on to see who would be the first to pick the perfect moment to propose. At the strike of midnight on New Years Eve as 2020 became 2021, Dan proposed to Rachel in their living room during a virtual celebration with friends. Rachel started crying happy tears the minute he presented the ring box and was incomprehensible for several minutes after. Excited for the journey ahead, Dan and Rachel soon began planning their special day…