On a snowy Saturday morning in early December 2008, unbeknownst to each other, Ben and Taylor each made their way to Benet Academy for the annual Catholic High School Entrance Exam. Given prospective students are seated alphabetically for the exam, Ben took his test a few feet away from Taylor’s soon-to-be best friend and eventual Matron of Honor, Julianna (Heger) Riley. While both of them were accepted into Benet, 13 year-old Ben couldn’t fathom the idea of another four years wearing a school uniform and eventually convinced his parents to allow him to attend Hinsdale Central. Alternatively - and despite her protests - Taylor’s parents made the decision to send her to Benet, which looks pretty smart in hindsight, seeing four Benet Redwings amongst the bridesmaids. Fast-forwarding a few years, Ben went off to Indiana University where he met Julianna in the first few weeks of school. Taylor spent her freshman year as a diver at Penn State before deciding to join in on the fun in Bloomington and transfer to Indiana to begin sophomore year. During her first few weeks at IU, Taylor was introduced to Ben’s groomsman/freshman roommate Andrew Eck. Over the next few years, Ben would see Julianna around campus and Taylor would see Andrew but Ben and Taylor’s paths never crossed. This culminated junior year, when Ben even met Taylor’s high school friend/bridesmaid Amanda (Medina) Sprenger on the Kilroy’s patio during her visit for Little 5… while Taylor was nowhere to be found. After college, both Ben and Taylor would head home to Chicago. Despite frequenting many of the same bars and sharing several crossover friends, they would go another three years without meeting. But fate has a funny way of working itself out, and when the world stopped in 2020, their story finally started. In each of their first social outings post-lockdown, Ben and Taylor went to an “Around the World” party hosted by Ben’s friend Burt Bloom who had recently started dating Taylor’s friend/maid of honor Hannah Ferstel. So to make a long story short, Ben and Taylor finally met in “Japan” taking sake bombs. Which eventually led to a first date at Homestead On The Roof a few weeks later, a second date at Topo Gigio shortly thereafter, and more dates than either of them can count since. People say that timing is everything and both Ben and Taylor are in full agreement that despite the many times they could have and should have met over the previous decade and a half, it wouldn’t have worked out nearly as well as it did. The last 4+ years have been full of Zach Bryan concerts, Cubs games, trips to Vaughan's Pub, and walks to the Chicago Lakefront and they're excited to share a glimpse of their lives together come August 16th!