So often these days couples meet online, but Tony and Katya amazingly met the good old fashion way! Katya moved back to St. Louis in June of 2014 and Tony moved into the house across the street from Katya just a month later in July. The rest is history!

After more than two years of looking at rings... Tony FINALLY popped the question in the most perfect way! Much to Katya's surprise, Tony planned a romantic night during their annual couples getaway weekend in Hermann, MO. After dinner, Tony surprised Katya by having the Inn keepers set up wine and roses at their favorite gazebo overlooking the Missouri River at sunset. Once they arrived at the gazebo for the surprise (which was almost ruined by some passersby), Tony pulled out their "This Time Last Year" letter and had Katya read her answer to the question, "What do you want to happen this year?" Her answer was, "PUT A RING ON IT!" At that moment Tony said, "Well in that case..." and got down on his knee and popped the question! She obviously said, "YES!" But the best part of the entire night was that in Tony's haste and nervous anticipation, he forgot the key to the cabin!! So after the proposal, Katya and Tony were locked out of the cabin and had to call the Inn Keepers to come back and let them into their cabin!

Wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger on the left hand because ancient civilizations thought that this was where the "vein of love" was believed to be located. These days, unfortunately, diamonds are a symbol of status. Tony worked with the designers at Do Amore to create Katya's unique, sustainable, and ethical ring. Tony and Katya's favorite part about the ring is that the money from the ring funded the building of a well to provide clean water to a community in a third-world country, making this ring a true symbol of the strength and power of love. (Do not forget to ask Katya about Tony's special hidden addition to her one-of-a-kind ring!)

We were so excited to see everyone September, 2020 and celebrate our marriage! However, our priority continues to be the safety and health of those we hold closest, YOU. As vaccinations are going into arms and numbers decline, we are planning on moving forward with our wedding on September 25, 2021. Unfortunately, due to lowered capacity limits at our venues and the continued health and safety of everyone we love, we are having to cut our original guest list by 50%. We will also be requiring that all of those guests that are attending in-person be fully vaccinated two weeks prior to our wedding. There will be a number of guests that are at high-risk and we simply cannot take any chances. For those of you who do not feel comfortable attending in person or that we have had to regretfully ask you to join us virtually, we will be live streaming our ceremony and have a brief virtual meet and greet afterwards so that we can at least "see" and celebrate with everyone! Although this is not how we intended our wedding to be, we are excited to share this important part of our story with everyone and continue to wish you all a happy and healthy spring and summer!