At five years old walking into our kindergarten class on the first day of school, we met one another for the first time. Together, we took our first school photos and had our first school performance to the tune of the Beach Boys with our hand-made surf boards. Growing up less than a mile down the road from each other, we went through school together and became friends during our freshman year of high school. During our junior year we quickly became inseparable and began dating. From junior formal, to senior prom, to high school graduation, to college graduation, we couldn't picture our lives without the other one in it.

I had every moment of the proposal and weekend planned out, and Alyssa had no idea. Alyssa's mom took her out for brunch and some shopping while I prepped our home for the proposal. I went through photos of us together from our childhood to us moving into our first home together. Arranging them in chronological order, I laid a path with roses and candles all leading to the ring that I had designed for her. Photos were strung and hanging from the ceiling of our favorite moments together and our song was playing when she walked in. Down on one knee with a bouquet of roses in my hands and the speech in my head, that went right out the window, I asked her to marry me... she said yes! From there, I took her to Philly where we ate in a private wine cellar and celebrated our engagement. The next day bright and early we packed up the car with our pup Mowgli and made our way to the Catskills where we enjoyed a getaway weekend in a tiny house overlooking a waterfall. We are so excited to celebrate this next chapter of our lives with you.