Our story is a classic modern romance. We met online. I fell in love immediately. Beth was so-so for a bit. Then, once she realized that my charm was unavoidable, she fell hard. We fell deeper in love, got engaged, bought a house, and started planning this wedding. And now here we are! Okay, there’s a little more to it than that: Beth and I met on a dating app in mid-October of 2024. We exchanged messages over the next few weeks until we finally made concrete plans to hang out in early November. I was extremely anxious. Our banter and chemistry over text were obvious, and I didn’t want to let her down in person. The night of the date arrived, and as I pulled into the restaurant, I got a text from Beth: “I’m going to be a bit late…” When she arrived, she explained that one of the dogs she was dog-sitting had thrown up and she wanted to make sure he was okay. For those of you who know me…this was actually a huge green flag that she would never risk the health of one of her four-legged friends, even for a first date. After the date, I thought I CRUSHED it. I genuinely believed Beth was off probably telling her friends how great the date was the second we left. Apparently, and this is still up for debate, I was leaning back in my chair with my arms crossed, constantly looking around, casually dodging direct eye contact, and speaking at a volume that was impossible to hear. Turns out, me “crushing it” was actually as Beth still likes to refer to it as “Cool Guy Dave” in action. We parted ways after I gave her a ride back to her car, and I was genuinely praying we’d be hanging out again soon. Thankfully, due to some words of encouragement from a couple of Beth’s friends (s/o Ashley), I earned date number two. I can confidently say our second date was the home run I hoped the first would be. Beth hustled me in pop-a-shot (after completely downplaying her abilities), I embarrassed myself with a four-minute solo on Guitar Hero, and we laughed harder than I ever had before. Immediately after, I knew Beth was my person. I remember thinking later that night that she was the person I had waited my entire life for. She was kind, thoughtful, funny, smart, and breathtakingly beautiful. Over the next few weeks, we went on more and more dates, had deep conversations, met each other’s friends and, most importantly, she became pretty inseparable from my two dogs, TJ and Miss Piggy. I had adopted Pig just a week before Beth and I met. TJ had been by my side for nearly 11 years without another dog, so it was a big adjustment for us boys. But Beth brought a calm and loving presence into our home, and they fell in love with her just as quickly as I did. That love has since turned into obsession and now they spend all day moping around the house until Beth gets home. The last 15 months have been the best of our lives, and we can’t believe it only gets better from here. Our little family is excited to officially come together this April and to celebrate with all of you, and I can’t wait to marry the love of my life!