Alie & Zach met on a warm summer night in 2019. Zach’s best friend Tommy was in town visiting for the first time so there was a festive spirit in the air. It was fate, or maybe a little bit of mutual friend set-up that got them in the same apartment at the same time. “Do you have any guys there that Alie might like?” “There is one, but he is from the south, and he has a strong mustache…” As it turns out, a mustache was exactly what Alie was looking for. And so the weekend of get-to-know you began. First a trip to the Green to play cards with friends, then wine slushies at Plumb, then swimming at the Ducleaux pool, then a get together at Zach’s apartment where Zach gave Alie a full overview of his passions; including but not limited to, metal music, Lovecraft, and wine of course. But don’t worry, the whole weekend was chaperoned by Liv, Ellen, and Tommy so this part of the story doesn’t get too wild. Their relationship grew that fall during Zach’s first wine harvest, and Alie’s second to last semester at Whitman College. They shared their favorite bands and artists, Zach tried to get Alie into Metal (he’s still working on it) and Alie showed Zach it’s okay to listen to soft acoustic sometimes. They hiked and went on walks, ate takeout with nice wine and pretty soon they realized it wasn’t just a summer to fall fling. In December, those words ‘I’m falling in love with you’ were shared over Tyler Childers and Jambalaya. 2020 came and went with its many challenges and milestones, from quarantine to graduation (also known as quarantine graduation), new jobs, lots of baking and experimenting in the kitchen, camping in the Blues, and enjoying time together doing pretty much everything (and nothing too). And they realized they weren’t just falling in love but that they were in love. 2021 and 2022 followed much the same, loving being together despite the chaos of life, traveling to new (and old) places near and far, spending time laughing and eating with their best friends, learning and growing their respective careers, and still finding time to develop new hobbies. But it was in 2023 when Alie & Zach decided it was time to take on their biggest challenge yet, a 5 month harvest internship in New Zealand! Looking back it is clear they always wanted to take that journey together. And it was an incredible adventure. They learned and grew a lot, both together and independently. There were late nights, car troubles, warm beers, new friends, incredible mountains, and hurricane force winds (to name a few) but it was, and still remains, one of the most special and important times in their life together. And 2023 didn’t stop there with adventures. Just after Christmas of that year they brought a true spot of joy into their lives when they added Murphy, the goodest of golden retrievers to their family. He is an inspiration to not take life so seriously, live joyfully, and love unconditionally…and to always keep your frisbee close by, just in case. It also wasn’t long after returning from New Zealand and bringing Murphy into their life together, that they decided they were ready to take that next big step. On a windy December morning on the beach in Alie’s hometown Zach asked Alie to marry him. In a rare turn of events it was a short speech that he gave. Alie had a strong feeling that the question was coming that day and politely acted surprised for the camera. They celebrated with a Pearson-Zagata classic of cake and champagne for dinner and have been celebrating ever since. As our wedding day approaches, we are so excited to take this next step into marriage together, to honor the commitment we have for each other, and to recognize the incredible journey we have shared leading up to this next great adventure! And to have all of our nearest and dearest friends and family with us to mark this incredible new chapter, well that’s just the icing on the cake. We can’t wait to celebrate with y’all soon! A&Z