James and Karen met at Brand Networks, an ad tech company in Santa Monica. James had been working there for over two years when Karen started in February of 2015. It was not love at first sight, at least according to Karen (James, on the other hand, maintains she was after him from the get go due to his witty turn of phrase and dashing good looks!) Karen was the new HR manager, and James the VP of Product. Their first meeting was professional, though James may have gotten under Karen's skin a little due to his team's coveted work from home days (in his defense, the team really was lights out!) Anyway, innocent flirtation escalated via Google Hangouts/FaceTime Calls/Snapchat messages from Karen to James—ostensibly about "work-related subjects"—while she was on a business trip. James knew she was in hook, line, and sinker at that point, and as it so happened, their unofficial first date occurred shortly thereafter. Since then, both James and Karen have enjoyed everything together, and they can't imagine life without one another—or their beloved daughter/pet, Roxie! They're very excited to tie the knot and make their forever union official in the company of family and friends. [P.S., Karen and James are not entirely certain why they wrote about themselves in the third-person]

Karen and James traveled to Paris around Thanksgiving time in 2017—a little R&R after a wild and crazy year. James included Karen in the design of her wedding ring (wisely, he might add!), though he concealed that it was already finished and in his possession prior to traveling to Paris. For several days, the ring traveled in the chest pocket of James's North Face jacket as he waited for the right moment for the proposal to present itself. Karen did find it rather odd that James was stubborn—if not outright resistant to—checking his jacket at restaurants. Nonetheless, the ruse met with success. On the evening of November 24th, while walking around Paris, James and Karen decided to visit the Eiffel Tower. Sadly, the tower was closed down due to a possible jumper. Disappointed, they moved on, and eventually around 10:30 pm they happened upon Eiffel Tower once again. Luckily—it would have been sad and unfortunate otherwise—the jumper decided to, well, not jump. The ticket line was also very short b/c most tourists had given up for the evening! James didn't "plan" on proposing at the Eiffel Tower. He "really" didn't plan to propose "on" the Eiffel Tower, not least of which b/c (a) he's not entirely fond of "man-made heights" & (b) he's clumsy (and legitimately feared he might fumble the ring during the proposal). That said, James knew the moment was right when they were alone on the level two platform. So, he kneeled down to propose to Karen. She, of course, turned away and began taking pictures, and didn't notice at all. Upon Karen turning around—after James repeatedly scratched at the back of her leg—he proposed. They both cried. Her immediate reaction was to say, "no"! Apparently it was just shock, though he thought it prudent not to inquire further. Hands shaking—on account of aforementioned fear of heights—James proceeded to put the ring on the wrong finger. All-in-all, a very smooth proposal was happily completed, and they happily posted on social media!