This may or may not be our biggest disagreement to date. When people ask about our first date, the story they get depends on which of us answers. Just this once, I'll share both. I believe our true 1st date occurred on Sept. 2nd - the day we have selected for our anniversary and the day of the wedding. So in my head, I'm winning the argument. Anyways, on September 2nd, 2015, Dan entered my life like a knight in shining armor. He texted me asking how my day was, when little did he know, it was terrible. I may have not told the bank I was moving across the country, leading them to freeze my card on a very inconvenient day: I had a job interview on the other end of the red line. I told Dan about my experiences of having to beg my way on public transportation and pay for my McDonald's with change from the bottom of my purse. He asked if he could try to brighten my day and suggested we spontaneously meet at Starbucks over his lunch hour. He warned me he'd be wearing a bright blue cast. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. But still, his warm smile, jokes, and my iced mocha chai cast a spell on me. Forty minutes later, I found myself infinitely more excited for our date the following evening. Dan's idea of our 1st date, a romantic night he planned, took place on the 3rd. It began over dinner. No one spilled pasta sauce or wine and Dan, the gentleman, picked up the tab. Part one was a success! I was then lead to a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop. Dan asked for our dessert to go, saying we had to move on to part three of the evening: a sunset stroll through the Boston Common and Public Garden. We sat on the famous Good Will Hunting bench, where we exchanged stories and laughs. The date ended like a scene from a movie. Now, I know a lady shouldn't kiss and tell, but it was just too perfect. Dan kissed me goodnight...in front of a fountain...in the rain. In the rain, people! My foot even popped (like in the Princess Diaries movie) and the rest is history! -Lo

The idea came to me about a year before it actually happened. Knowing how much Lauren loves Christmas, and that we would be spending Christmas 2017 with my family in Boston, I came up with the idea to have a Christmas proposal. As I began to comb through ideas, I thought, "What better way to propose than to get down on one knee in front of the biggest Christmas Tree of them all at Rockefeller Center?" I contacted the company at the skating rink there and booked our proposal the day it became available. Almost 9 months later we found ourselves in New York City. We walked by the rink a few hours before the proposal was scheduled to occur, just to see how long of a walk it was from the hotel, and to get an ideas as to when we should leave. We left the hotel for the rink roughly 45 minutes before the proposal time. What should have been a 10 minute walk ended up taking us 40 minutes because there just happened to be a Christmas light show by Saks off 5th. Nobody was moving and time was ticking. The proposal was happening at 6 PM whether or not we were even on the ice. Lauren, wanting to skate and recreate the scene from Elf, helped us push people out of our way as I quickly became a sweaty mess. We ended up making it to the rink with almost no time to spare. Lauren and I were ushered to the VIP room where we put our skates on and headed onto the ice. Thank God we were only on there for 10 minutes because we both aren't exactly the best skaters. At 6 PM the staff at the rink began to clear people off the ice and moments later it was only us two. A song I selected came on. Then she knew. We attempted to skate around the rink but Lo couldn't see through her tears. I got down on one knee and somehow didn't fall. The next moment was a blur, but it will be something we remember forever. The crowd of people roared with excitement, and some girls overlooking the rink demanded Lauren flash them the ring. We enjoyed an amazing meal afterwards and the rest is history! - Dan