There are two versions of this story. Amanda’s is some variation of “through mutual friends.” Dylan’s is a bit more… cinematic. So naturally, you’re getting Dylan’s. It all starts in Oct 2017 at our friend Brian’s lake house in upstate New York. Brian (Dylan’s childhood best friend) and Cristina (Amanda’s college best friend) were about to leave for Thailand with no return tickets, so they threw a sendoff weekend with 20-30 of us. I had flown in from LA (where I’d just started building my life) and was especially excited since I hadn’t been back to NY much in years. Enter Amanda. I had never met her before that weekend, but I was pretty immediately smitten. She was there solo, but very much not single (had a long-term boyfriend at the time) and between that and the fact that we lived on opposite coasts, I basically wrote it off as “not a real possibility.” Still, something about her stuck with me. She was smart, driven (working her way through the intense process of becoming an actuary), effortlessly social, beautiful, and just had this presence that everyone gravitated toward. To the point where all the guys there basically told me to “get in line.” When I got back to LA, I told just about anyone who would listen (my therapist, family, and friends) that I had met the girl of my dreams. Which was ironic, considering I had very recently been saying I didn’t think I’d ever get married. Then… nothing. For about 15 months. Fast forward to Jan 2019. I’m back in NYC, out at a bar in Chelsea with Brian and Cristina (now engaged), catching up with old friends. And then… Amanda walks in. And I don’t mean casually walks in. It was one of those slow-motion, movie-scene entrances where the door opens, the wind blows her hair, and suddenly the entire room shifts. I completely checked out of the conversation I was in and just watched her make her way through the bar. We ended up reconnecting, sat down to catch up, and immediately fell into an easy, fun rhythm. Then the dance floor opened up, and we danced the night away. At one point, Brian pulled me aside and told me Amanda had said she thought I was cute. I was 26 years old and somehow felt like I was back in 8th grade. Completely shocked. That night ended with all of us crashing at Amanda’s apartment. I had high hopes… and instead ended up on the couch with Brian’s feet in my face. Humbling. Then again… nothing. For another 9 months. Until September 2019 - Brian and Cristina’s wedding. Back at the same lake house where we first met. What I didn’t know going in was that we were both in their bridal party… and we were paired together. From the moment I walked in that weekend, the energy was different. We spent the next couple of days talking, laughing, and getting to know each other on a deeper level. It felt easy, natural, and honestly kind of inevitable. That weekend ended up becoming what we now consider the start of our relationship. The only problem? She went back to NYC. I went back to LA. But this time, there was no going back to once-a-year interactions. We started talking immediately. And by talking, I mean 3-hour FaceTimes almost every night, with Amanda staying up until 1 or 2am just to keep the conversation going. Three weeks later, she came out to visit me in LA. I was living with my brother and sister at the time, so she was thrown right into the deep end of my world… and somehow fit into it instantly. They loved her. I loved her more. That trip was really the turning point. From there, we spent the next year doing long distance until Amanda made the move across the country to LA almost exactly a year later. And now, nearly seven years after that wedding weekend, here we are. Getting married. Still feels surreal. Still feels like a dream.