It all started at one of my friend’s engagement parties, a night filled with love, celebration, and, apparently, matchmaking. When she asked me to be her maid of honor, I was overjoyed, but before I could even process the moment, the inevitable question came: Who are you bringing to the wedding? The problem, I had sworn off dating. That didn’t sit well with my friends. In a whirlwind of determination (and maybe a little wine), they grabbed my phone, re-downloaded a dating app, and set out to find me the perfect date. That’s when they stumbled upon Ryan - someone we all knew. Ryan and I had gone to college together, him, the effortlessly cool baseball player, and me, fully immersed in my friend group - barely paying attention to the “too cool for school” athlete. We had never spoken, and I was convinced that wasn’t about to change. But then we matched. I told myself I wouldn’t message him back. No way. But the next day, something- curiosity, fate, or maybe just the relentless persistence of my friends, I replied. And just like that, we clicked. Late-night FaceTime calls became our new normal, and before I knew it, Ryan was showing up at my apartment to surprise me with lunch, just because. Our first official date was dinner and line dancing, where we laughed, danced, and somehow just knew. Ryan swears he didn’t ask me to be his girlfriend that night, but I remember differently. Three years, five moves, one dog and one cat later, Ryan got down on one knee and asked me to be his forever. And without hesitation, I said yes. What started out as a search for a plus one, ended up turning into finding my forever wedding date. We can’t wait to celebrate our love story with all of you!