It's getting real!

Bride and groom both remember this story differently! Ask Josh, and he'll say that he first noticed Taylor at college orientation, and then not-so-randomly sat himself behind her once he realized we had a class together. Taylor will tell you how she walked into a giant lecture hall three days after moving to New Orleans and, not knowing a soul, just sat herself in front of the first alternative-looking people she saw - which happened to include the cute punk dude in the back row. Whichever the case, Josh found an excuse to start talking to Taylor after our first major exam a few weeks later. Soon, we were hanging out on campus at UNO (or getting into some Quarter rat antics on lower Decatur) every day!

We were always STRICTLY "just friends." And we stayed friends beyond college, even though there were long times we went without seeing each other. Things changed in autumn 2015, when Josh invited Taylor out to New Orleans Oktoberfest - this time, as a date. This festival, hosted by the very same Deutsches Haus that owns our beautiful venue, would become a tradition we looked forward to all year. Beer and brats that night turned into drinks at our favorite dive bar...which turned into hangover breakfast the next morning...which turned into hanging out at the Fly for hours, sharing a first kiss and quoting It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia back and forth at each other. The rest you could say is history!

Plan A: A Storybook Proposal in Dublin Josh bought the ring in advance of a planned trip we had in July 2020 to Dublin, Ireland to visit a close friend. Little did Taylor know that, as she was planning visits to the Guinness brewery and the leprechaun museum, Josh was planning to pop the question somewhere scenic: on a hike through the Irish countryside, or maybe even while touring an old castle. Unfortunately, that year had other plans for all of us. Plan B: An Open-Air Proposal at Garden of the Gods Even though Ireland didn't work out, Josh was still set on proposing somewhere with some natural beauty. Fortunately, by the following spring, our plan to move to Colorado was in motion. A day trip to some gorgeous natural rock formations outside of Colorado Springs would make a perfect backdrop. But, this time, a freak mid-spring snowstorm - and the general chaos of moving cross country - thwarted the man a second time. Plan C: An Intimate Proposal At Our New Home By this point, Josh had had the ring hidden away inside a bass pedalboard for nearly a year, and our closest friends who were in on the secret were losing their patience! We were also about to be separated for several weeks before Taylor's job in New Orleans ended and she would be able to join Josh in Denver. So, the morning before her flight back - with a mountain view from our very own little balcony in the background - Josh finally pulled out a beautiful blue velvet box with a ring inside to give to Taylor. It goes to show how things can be beautiful even when they don't go perfectly to plan.