Our relationship was sparked by luck of the draw – we picked the same letter out of a hat in our ‘Civil Engineering Fundamentals’ class to put us in a lab group together for the fall semester of our sophomore year at Villanova University. We started seeing each other often, and it just so happened that we lived two flights of stairs from one another in Fedigan Hall. Matt made the first move by asking to copy Tati’s structural mechanics homework every day before class, even though this was his best subject. We soon became study partners and would hang out in our dorm lounge or at the library. After group project meetings in the café across campus, we would walk back together and quickly discovered that we share a similar sense of humor. The dynamic changed one night in early December when Tati asked Matt to go to her sorority’s winter formal. We spent nearly every day together after that night, and we officially began dating a month later during Christmas break.

After we graduated from Villanova, we moved to Center City, Philadelphia into our first apartment together. In early July of 2014, Matt had just started working and Tati was on vacation with her family in Grenada, W.I. On a whim, Tati decided to extend her vacation, and that very same day she and her family made an unexpected stop on the side of the road where they found a tiny pothound whom they named Rider. Two weeks later, Rider was on board a plane to JFK Airport on Tati’s lap. We spent much of our first few years in Philly exploring new neighborhoods, finding the best places to eat, and even bringing Rider along to dive bars, restaurants, and street festivals. We knew that we wanted to be in Philly long-term, and our weekend drives eventually turned into house-hunting adventures. Eventually we found a place in East Kensington that we now call home. A few months later, we found ourselves visiting the PSCPA to look at kittens. One day after work, just a few minutes before the shelter closed for the day, we heard a little kitten with crimped fur yelling at us to take her home. The next morning, the PSPCA posted her on social media as their “Pet of the Week” and we rushed back to be the first in line to adopt her. Matt continues to work as a structural engineer in Philadelphia and became licensed as a Professional Engineer in December of 2018. In the summer of 2019, Tati started a full-time graduate program in New York City at Parsons School of Design.

Our trip to Italy in August 2019 was already set to be a pivot point in our relationship – Tati was starting graduate school and our day-to-day routine as we knew it was about to change. Our journey started in Rome and continued to Siena, where Tati studied abroad in 2012, and to Lake Iseo in Lombardy. The last stop on our trip was beautiful Venice. After a day of getting acquainted with the city’s winding streets and dreamlike canals, we got dressed up for a walking city tour, gondola ride, and photo shoot that Matt had booked. We walked to a few different areas of the city to pose for photos and eventually it came time to conclude the shoot with a private gondola ride. Although our photographer (who was in on the plan) quietly insisted that Matt should propose on the gondola, Matt wanted to ask on land so that he could drop to one knee – and not risk dropping the ring overboard. When the ride ended, we walked to a secluded dock overlooking Venice’s Grand Canal and the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. As we posed for photos with the sun setting in the background, Matt popped the question, and of course Tati said YES! Our tour guide took out a bottle of champagne that he had stashed in his backpack and we toasted in celebration. Matt had reserved a table for a romantic dinner at Bistrot de Venise months in advance that was complete with another champagne toast and a red rose. We continued our celebration and concluded our trip the next evening with dinner at Riviera.

There’s nothing better than heading up to the mountains for a quick escape, and we hope our summer celebration in the Catskills can be a weekend getaway for everyone. We’ve spent many weekends with Rider and Sage traveling the area’s scenic roads and sampling its best local beers and ciders. It’s one of our favorite destinations and such a diverse region, and we wanted a similar eclectic vibe for our wedding. Our drive to visit Foxfire for the first time was during the height of ‘leaf peeping’ season, and the mountains popped with some of the most vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds that you can imagine. The property is nestled between the historic Catskill Mountain Railroad and the wilderness of Mount Pleasant to the south and west, with views of Mount Tremper to the north. Esopus Creek is the lifeblood of the town, and you can find fly fishermen dotting the shallow rapids on most days during the spring, summer, and fall. This summer, we can’t wait to experience the Catskills with all of you and celebrate the start of a new chapter in our lives!