Same Party, New Date: 8/28/2021

Visit this link to virtually 'attend' our small wedding ceremony held on our original date, 9/26/2020

For years the topic of when we first met has been controversial — Ali insists we met at Paige’s 16th birthday party, and I insist it was at the old Seaford Golf and Country Club (SGCC). However, we can agree that the earliest story of “us” began at SGCC when one day, during the early summer in 2009, I visited James while he was working with Ali. Following this introduction, on Father’s Day weekend, I bumped into Ali and her mom at the Hallmark in Seaford and exclaimed that I had just written to her on Facebook, which was met with mixed reactions. I later found out that Ali’s parents didn’t know she had a Facebook, so we were off to a great start! Anyways, additional social media conversations led to phone number exchanges and countless texts (and even homecoming dance asks!) — all the while Ali seeing me as a friend and me always hoping for more. Time truly flies when you're having fun, and that’s exactly how our friendship went. We talked all day, every day, sharing everything — we had become best friends, and it eventually shifted into deeper feelings for each other. On March 9, 2012 at 11:11 PM, I popped the first of two questions that would change our lives forever and asked her to officially be my girlfriend — on a dock in her neighborhood, with glow-in-the-dark chalk asking her to “Check Yes or No.” She checked “Yes,” and we were off!

We started our relationship as I was finishing up my sophomore year of college at the University of Delaware and she was finishing up her freshman year at Duke University, some 300+ miles apart. We talked all day every day, Skyped every moment we got (often falling asleep doing so!), and visited each other whenever we got the chance — even with a few surprise visits sprinkled in. After graduation, we launched our respective careers, mine in New Orleans and hers in Raleigh, where we continued to make long distance work for another 3 long years. In those 6 years, we went through everything together — the ups, the downs, the moves, and many “learning opportunities” (for me — Ali is always right!). All the while, we were always looking forward to the day when we could be together. After many discussions and careful consideration, we both moved up to Philadelphia and began to experience a new life together, learning a new city and taking on a new challenge. But while we both achieved our goal of moving together to one place, I had another goal in mind to come shortly thereafter…

I knew for years that Ali was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I knew that I wanted to propose in 2019. For years I had theorized on some “grand” way to propose, but ultimately I landed on the best option — at the same place that I asked her 7+ years ago to date me, but bigger and better! And, in truth, it all hit me at once. In the late spring, I was talking to my parents about doing it in late summer, and by working backwards in time, quickly realized I needed to get on the ball if I wanted to make this work. I moved swiftly to talk to Ali’s parents, to get the ring designed and made, to purchase and test all the materials needed for the proposal, and to sneak down to Seaford to get things set up. When the day finally arrived, it was perfect. After getting home late from a concert at the DE State Fair, we took a walk down to the end of that famous dock. I switched on the stage of twinkling fairy lights I had set up earlier that day, got down on one knee and asked her the second question that would change our lives forever — “Will you marry me?” After I had convinced her that I was indeed serious (she asked at least 6 times), the rest is…well… history! - Adam