My friend, Rochelle, was having a Halloween party in Richmond, VA. It had been a while since I REALLY celebrated Halloween so I was ready to put on my Joker costume and head out. Once my friends and I were ready to go Rochelle says something like, “My friend from work is also coming to meet us but she’s running late.” (hard eye roll) Mainly because I’m not the most accepting of new people entering my friend groups, but also because I’m ready to get to this party! We decide to go ahead without this co- worker and about an hour into the party a fight breaks out. In the midst of all of the chaos, here's this girl ushering me out of the party. She then proceeds to stand with my friends and I outside of the party by the car. So, I’m like, “who IS THIS?!” Come to find out, she’s the co- worker, her name is Candice, and she's kinda hot. haha. We all go back to my friends place where I smoothly request some help walking up the flight of steps to the second floor. The group spends some time talking in the kitchen, telling college stories, etc. All the while Candice and I keep exchanging looks across the kitchen. I must have been making some serious eyes because before we all head out for some late-night breakfast, she puts her number in my phone! (Bagged her!) Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it to breakfast, but we spent the next few days texting. The first phone call we had a few days later lasted EIGHT HOURS! It was like we'd known each other our whole lives, which is cliché but give me a break. I didn't know how at that time, but I had a feeling that she was going to be someone important in my life. Now I know her importance is to be my wife and so much more! Most of the time meeting your friends’ other friends is kind of lame, but in this case it was definitely a great thing :).

I've told this story a thousand times over and now that I'm writing it for our wedding website, it feels so unreal. I was invited to a Halloween party in Richmond, VA by Rochelle, one of my coworkers at the time. I almost didn't go. Richmond is an hour and a half away from Virginia Beach and I really wasn't feeling the drive but I had already committed myself to go, so I went! When I arrived at the party, it had to be less than 10 minutes before a fight broke out and here I am fighting for Rochelle's friend because some girl told her that her True Religion jeans were high waters! After I pulled Rochelle and a few of her friends out of the fight, we left the party and went back to her place. When me and my friend arrived to Rochelle's one of her friends said to me "Hey, you! Help me up the stairs". I was immediately amused because like, how dare this stranger demand me to help her?! I helped of course because she had clearly been drinking and was wearing heels. Good thing because her friend that went before us fell HARD. After we made it up the stairs, everyone was conversing and having a good time, but Steph and I kept locking eyes. I know for sure that it was her personality I was attracted to because her face was painted! She had dressed up as the joker for halloween and I even thought her hair was spray painted orange! The Dark Knight is one of my favorite movies by the way, so I took that as a sign. We were all headed to IHOP for breakfast when my friend said she wanted to leave. After being exposed to this intoxicating person that clearly found me attractive, I couldn't leave without putting my number in her phone.I walked up to her and said "here's my number since you're not going to ask." Steph texted within 15 minutes, although she bagged me, I felt like a boss. After a few phone calls and our first two dates, I saved her name in my phone as "My Future Wife." I knew then, I know now, and I'll remember forever that on 11.01.2013, I met the love of my life.

For about a year I (Stephanie) had been thinking of ways to ask Candice to spend the rest of her life with me. A scavenger hunt would be cool, I thought. No- on a vacation with our families would be better. But wait, maybe somewhere abroad with a flash mob would be the best! Every time I began to come up with an elaborate plan it just stressed me out because nothing every seemed perfect enough. So there we were, having a beer on the patio of some restaurant in Greenwich Village, smack in the middle of the NYC pride parade and as I'm looking at her from across the table I'm thinking of how much I love her, how we can be our complete selves with one another, and how as long as we're together, we're already perfect. So I took my hair tie from around my wrist, wrapped it around a few times to make it small enough, and I asked if she would marry me. SHE SAID YES! ***shortly after we realized her finger was turning a bit blue because the hair tie was a bit tight, it was also on the wrong finger, but she had already said "yes" so no take backs! :)