Madi and Ryan met in 2016 in the fall of their freshman year at Notre Dame. What started as a casual friendship quickly blossomed into something much more intense: a co-ed basketball team. That 2016 squad’s notable accomplishments include narrow defeats to the Dragon Warriors and holding ex-football lineman Doug to under 70 points. (Shoutout to the teammates and faithful fans that will be in attendance at the wedding.) After the season, Madi and Ryan continued to spend time together in the friend group affectionately known as “Rish”. During their sophomore year, Madi spent enough time around The Corner Pocket (Ryan's quad) in Stanford Hall to claim the notorious distinction of the “fifth roommate”. Between sophomore year in 2017 and senior year in 2019, Madi and Ryan became more inseparable and grew in deep friendship with each other. Madi spent a summer in Pittsburgh on an internship, and Ryan visited Sycamore one fall to experience Pumpkinfest. Romantic feelings were never even considered, and there was fortunately no confusion, disappointment, or fighting along the way. In the fall of 2019, Madi & Ryan decided to go on a date. Upon telling friends and family, the were greeted with “It’s about time.”, “I called it!”, “I thought you guys were already dating…”, and rarely, “Congratulations!” In 2020 amidst a pandemic, Madi and Ryan graduated from ND with a combined GPA of 4.0 and entered the uncertain world of long-distance dating. Ryan went to grad school in Virginia, while Madi decided to actually do something productive and get a job. 2020 and 2021 were spent FaceTiming nightly, cross-country flights, and trying to get to figure out our future together. In 2022, Ryan got a job in the Chicago area and wasted no time in buying a ring. We got engaged in May of 2022 at their makeup graduation ceremony and have been eagerly awaiting this August since then. Our relationship has been marked by close friendship, competitiveness, and a strong devotion to faith, family and friends. We are so excited to start our family and continue our journey together as best friends. We are incredibly thankful for the love and support we have received along the way, and cannot wait to celebrate with you!