We're getting married!

Our story starts with two houses, each at the end of their streets, a single gate that separated the two neighborhoods, and a two-minute walk from one front door to the other. We met in middle school through Science Olympiad. In 6th grade, we were on the training team, but we barely knew each other. In 7th grade, we both made it onto the competition team and began our friendship through trips to state and national competitions. In 8th grade, we were not only on the team together, but we also placed 3rd at nationals in a shared event. Don't believe our complete and utter nerdiness? Here's the evidence: https://spotlight.ladueschools.net/2014/05/15/lms-eighth-in-national-science-olympiad-competition/ (Can you spot the tiny versions of us?)

Freshmen year of high school came, and we received another national medal in our event! Sophomore year of high school, our friendship grew stronger as we started texting more. Our conversations went from, "When should we meet to study for our event?" to "What's your favorite ____" to "Tell me more about your family". We texted back and forth for days, then weeks, and then months. Then, one day in November of 2014, we were playing a fun little question game through text, and it was revealed that feelings of more than friendship existed. The rest is history.

Almost three years into our cute high school relationship of picking up and walking each other to our next period class, it was time to transition into a long-distance relationship as we both went off to college. We went months without seeing each other, and sometimes only reunited for a couple of days. We hugged for minutes on end when seeing each other again, and our hearts broke constantly every time we had to said goodbye. To say it was hard is an understatement. With no way of physical communication, we both grew so much emotionally. We learned each other's strengths and weaknesses, and how best to communicate. Our relationship was tested, but through it all, we've become unbreakable.

As Christians, we wanted to incorporate the importance of our faith into our date. May 21st - (May) God bless the (two) of us as we become (one) We also looked to the Bible for scripture. "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21) "so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:21)

Some wedding hashtags comprise of "bride's last name" to "groom's last name", as the bride takes on the groom's last name. We loved this idea and used our last names' meanings in their original languages to create a fun alliteration. Stephanie's last name Zhong in Chinese is a timekeeping device. Luke's last name Biernbaum comes from the German word for pear tree. Please use this hashtag when posting pictures of our wedding and the events leading up to it! We'd love to see all the memories you capture on this journey with us.

First Held Hands November 20th, 2014 The beginning of our relationship First Kiss January 2nd, 2015 Hidden Valley Ski Resort on the ski lift First Date May 26th, 2015 Movie theater - Pitch Perfect 2 We didn't formally go out just the two of us together until 6 months into our relationship! Promise Ring December 20th, 2019 Engagement December 20th, 2020 Six Flags https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsJqbl1JaFo