The road to Happily Ever After is littered with any number of twists and turns. For Sarah and Matt, those twists involved dating apps, a near missed connection, and a little liquid courage to fuel the spark that lead them to the altar. Sarah and Matt matched on a dating app called Inner Circle and began chatting, though neither can agree on who messaged the other first. Matt had eight dating apps on his phone at the time and had grown weary of the whole process. The two messaged for a couple of days when Sarah noticed that she hadn’t heard from Matt in awhile. In going back through their conversation history, she realized that she may have indicated to Matt that she wasn’t as interested as she actually was, so she sent Matt one more message with her phone number, telling him that she was going to be deleting the app and that if he wanted to get in touch, he should text her. Unbeknownst to Sarah, Matt received this message on his 35th birthday after he had been out celebrating with friends. So, with the help of a couple of birthday beers, the person who notoriously hates talking on the phone decided to call Sarah and see what she was all about. The two wound up talking on the phone for more than two hours before Sarah reminded Matt that he hadn’t yet asked her out and maybe he should do so. Sarah likes margaritas so the two agreed to meet up at La Josie, a Mexican bar in the West Loop, on September 7. Sarah almost wound up cancelling their first date because she too had grown weary of dating, but then she took a shot of tequila and saddled up. Most first dates are awkward. This one wasn’t. Matt and Sarah hit it off almost instantly, the conversation flowing like the two had known each other for years. In fact, their first date went so well that Matt decided to keep the receipts from both places they went that night -- including West Loop cocktail bar St. Lou’s Assembly -- because he wanted to have a physical reminder of that night.

12/23/19 wasn’t the first time Matt had proposed to Sarah That happened on their second date. Sarah and Matt were on Sarah’s balcony when Sarah, a University of Kentucky alumna, went off on a tangent about how ridiculous it was Indiana University’s basketball got sweet 16 rings in 2012. Matt, a Purdue alum, was immediately smitten and asked her to marry him on the spot. She laughed and said potentially. It was, after all, just their second date. Fast forward two years. Matt got an email on December 22nd from the jeweler letting him know the ring was ready. Immediately, he began plotting his proposal, Matt had to go into work, but made a detour north to pick up the ring. Sarah had the day off and was going about her morning. Matt spent the day at work with the ring burning a hole in his pocket and not being as productive as normal because, well, his life was about to change. He had a half day and Sarah offered to pick him up from work on her way to pick up Roxanne. Sarah, unaware of Matt’s plans, asked Matt in the car when she picked him up if he wanted to go to a rooftop bar and Zoo Lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Matt, not wanting to spoil the surprise and unsure of what else to do, said “maybe” and started stalling. Every time Sarah would ask him about plans for the night, he’d start singing a song on the radio or pointing out something random on the street, hoping to change the subject and that Sarah wouldn’t notice the giant ring box in his pocket. Finally, they got back to Sarah’s place. As soon as the door closed, Matt told Sarah “Today is not going to go the way you think it’s going to go.” Sarah had asked Matt the week before when he knew he was going to marry her, and in that moment, Matt reminded her of her tangent on their second date about Indiana basketball on her porch. He then got on one knee and proposed right there in her kitchen. Then they met up with Family and Friends at Haymarket to Celebrate!

Hello! Looks like we are having two wedding celebrations. On November 14, 2020, Matt and Sarah will be married in an imitate ceremony with immediate family... and then we will celebrate with all our love ones at the same place on September 3, 2021. Go to the scheudle tab for details about streaming our wedding on 12pm CST on 11/14/2020.