Ryan and Melissa met on a snow trip in December 2015 that Melissa jokingly invited herself to. Their mutual friend, Chaz, had plans to go snow wheeling that Saturday with Ryan and some of their other friends, and he happened to mention it to Melissa the night before over the phone. Sounding like an adventure that was right up her alley, Chaz invited her along. He even mentioned to Melissa, ahead of time, that Ryan was a single, “good guy” but Melissa brushed it off, not wanting to be set up or make the day weird. They had a great day in the snow with their friends and then everyone went their separate ways that evening. Something about Ryan intrigued Melissa, so she asked Chaz for his phone number and sent him a text. Ryan responded back to her, but considering what a prankster/goofball Chaz is, Ryan didn’t believe that the text from Melissa was real. He thought he was getting tricked by Chaz. Melissa told him she understood his concern, and left it up to Ryan whether he could trust that it was her or not to continue the conversation. Ryan and Melissa continued texting after that evening and about a week later, went on their first date. Both of them were nervous, but for very different reasons. Melissa was nervous because she saw a lot of potential in Ryan, as he was very different (in a good way) than her previous, more casual relationships. Ryan was nervous because in the back of his mind he knew there was still a possibility that this was all a huge prank and that it would be Chaz, not Melissa, that was behind the door when he went to pick “her” up that night. Of course that fear subsided when Melissa answered the door. They hit it off, spent the whole night talking, and their relationship took off from there.

Melissa had a snowshoeing trip planned in Tahoe with her women’s hiking group. Instead of waking up at the crack of dawn, driving to Tahoe alone, and making it a day trip, she asked Ryan if he would want to make a weekend of it. He was up for it so they rented an Air B&B for the weekend. Melissa did her thing with her group on Saturday and on Sunday they had planned to do their own snowshoeing adventure before they left Tahoe. Usually Melissa is the adventurous one, but oddly Ryan kept suggesting that they start hiking up these massive mountains. Little did she know, it was because he was looking for a good view for what was to come. Once they got towards the top of the mountain, Ryan started playing around with the drone that he had borrowed from his dad. It was pretty windy up so he decided to put it away so that they could keep going. They started packing up to keep going and Ryan said, “Okay, let’s just get one selfie before I put it away.” As they’re getting ready for the picture, Melissa notices Ryan messing with something in his back pocket and then he dropped to one knee. He asked Melissa to marry him and of course she said yes. Easiest and best decision ever!

Due to all of the challenges, changes, and limitations presented by COVID-19, Ryan & Melissa had to cancel their wedding which was originally planned for October 24, 2020. It was a huge disappointment for them on so many levels, but the one thing they were 100% sure about was that they were NOT going to wait another year to get married, even if they had to postpone their wedding celebration. On October 22, 2020, Ryan, Melissa, their officiant Chaz, their good friend Chris, and their parents, drove up to Butte Meadows. Chaz performed the ceremony, and Chris was their witness and photographer. It was a perfect evening and they are SO happy and excited to officially be married, but they are looking forward to celebrating with all of their family and friends in April.