Living their independent lives oblivious of each other on the hottest day of the summer of 2018, Joe spent the day watching the Twins and Cubs at Wrigley Field, and Lauren basked by the pool. Their paths would cross that night at a live music cocktail club in downtown Chicago, where Joe went to get drinks with his buddies, and Lauren went to dance with her friends. Joe was searching through the dance floor, looking for his roommate whom he had left there only a few minutes ago. He didn’t see him, but he found Lauren’s sparkling eyes instead and he decided to find out if maybe she had seen his missing friend. She hadn’t seen him either, but it turned out not to matter, because now that they had met, they couldn't take their eyes off each other. They each ended up losing track of all of the rest of the friends that they had brought as they laughed and danced that night (no friends were injured in the making of this couple). As Joe walked Lauren home, they passed over the Kinzie Street bridge, and there, under the glittering lights of the city on a warm summer night, they had their first kiss. It was where their two paths merged, and bridges have had special meaning to the couple ever since. Crossing a bridge has become a tradition similar to standing under mistletoe, and a bridge served as the inspiration for Lauren's engagement ring. The split arch, which they designed together, has two independent supports which merge into one solid gold band.

When Joe and Lauren traveled to Australia in January of 2020, escaping the winter for sunshine and beaches was on Lauren’s mind, and getting engaged was not. While friends and family would inquire, they hadn’t looked at rings together or even really begun to discuss it as a couple. After seeing the beautiful Whitsunday Islands in their research, Lauren was hooked, and they decided to spring for a helicopter tour so that they could see the iconic swirl of the white sand beaches through the bright teal sea. Secretly, Joe made his plan for the helicopter pilot to drop them off on the silica sand of Whitehaven Beach and he knew that it would be the perfect moment to propose. When the big morning came, it was raining, and not just a little bit. It was the kind of all-day, unrelenting rain that only comes down in the tropics during rainy season. The helicopter tour was first delayed, then canceled, and all of the Aussie’s suggested heading to the pub to celebrate Australia Day instead. Determined to make the most of the day, they found the only ferry tour that was still going to the Whitehaven Beach despite the rain. You could barely see out the windows on the way, but by the time they arrived, the sun came out and the 4 miles of 99% pure silica sand beach were every bit as gorgeous as they had imagined. As they were soaking up the sun on a private stretch of the beach, Joe suggested they get a picture with his 360 camera. This was something they had been doing quite frequently so Lauren thought nothing of it. Joe secretly turned the camera on video and set the timer. When he came back, instead of smiling for the picture, he got down on one knee and proposed with a white silicone band. The pure surprise and joy of the moment is captured in the picture below, taken just moments later.