Jen's story: I was asked if I wanted to be the plus one at a wedding with a girlfriend. I figured it could be a good time, but a school project and cold almost kept me from attending. Not wanting to be rude (or waste the couple's hard earned money) I managed to pull myself together and made it to the reception. I made polite conversation at the misfits table and took in all that was going on around me. It didn't take long for Nate to catch my eye. So I waited (and tried to make eye contact often) and hoped he would approach me. Thankfully not too long after dinner, he came by to make some small talk (which now I know he absolutely hates). That turned into talking all night, a little dancing and a post wedding Taco Bell run. The rest, as they say, is history. Nathan's story: It was an honor to be in Matt’s wedding. He was, after all, one of my best friends. Unbeknownst to me, that wedding would be the best thing that ever happened to me. When the time came for the bridal party introductions I busted out the weird in classic Nathan fashion. A little later on I kept that train rolling by riding around on the back of one of my good friends on the dance floor. Being weird had done me a great service that night. It had caught the eye of Jen, someone who found it in some crazy way endearing. After a brief interaction outside I wandered around the hall and found Jen sitting by herself. I decided it was time to put on the charm. I made my way over and commented on how “…sad and lonely” she looked (Casanova I was not). Luckily, she decided I was still worth talking to after what could possibly be the worst icebreaker ever. Before the end of the evening, "Nathan talking to a girl" had become the talk of the wedding. It turned out to be a way bigger deal than we all had thought because Nathan wasn’t just talking to any girl, it was his future wife.

Jen's side: We planned on going to Brookfield Zoo on a chilly January afternoon, followed by dinner with Danielle and Adam to celebrate my birthday. We came to a photo booth and decided to take pictures since we hadn't done any yet at Brookfield. As you may know, Nate is King of Awesome Faces so I knew I had to bring my A game so I was really focused. The first picture came and went and I was in the zone. The second picture came and I noticed Nate moving his arm around and then he asked me to marry him! I was completely surprised and caught off guard and all I could get out at first was - "Oh my god! Oh my god!" But I obviously said yes! After the last picture, I was floating around the zoo totally on cloud nine, gazing at my gorgeous ring with the biggest grin on my face. I don't remember much else at the zoo that day so it's a good thing we've been there so many times!

Nate's side: A while back we booked a cruise. True to Jen fashion, she began researching everything about cruises and Alaska (like it was going to be on the midterm). Somewhere along the way she got the idea to get a fake wedding ring and say we were newlyweds to get some sweet perks. I then got the idea that it would be quite the surprise to her that on that cruise we didn’t have to lie about a big life event we could experience one. I was going to propose to Jen. Around the same time, we were discussing marriage, it had become obvious that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and well… Jen likes to plan ahead. I gave her the go ahead to start researching even though I hadn’t actually proposed. By this time we knew how much we loved going to zoos. After one trip to Brookfield Jen knew this was where we had to get married. Due to a few factors, we realized we had to bump up our timeline to 2018. Then things started to go into overdrive. When Jen gets planning watch out - she won’t stop until the job is done. As things started moving I came to two realizations - Jen would have this planned before we got on the ship and I felt like I was doing a disservice to the way I felt about this woman to simply continually call her my girlfriend. She was so much more than that to me. So in order to remedy both situations, I did a little planning on my own. I decided to propose on a brisk January day while Jen and I were at one of our favorite places, the very zoo we were going to get married in. I chose to wait until we were inside one of the zoo's photo booths to take a signature Jen and Nathan picture and capture the very moment I would ask the love of my life to marry me. If you get a chance to walk around Brookfield before the wedding look for the photo booth towards the South entrance on the way to the Living Coast. Take a picture there; it could change your life.