oh the places we'll go...we're getting married in oregon!

Irene and Eddie met through work at PepsiCo but rarely interacted with each other until 2017. After a work volunteer event, everyone went to happy hour where Irene and Eddie ended up sitting at the same table. By this time, everyone knew Irene was about to move to NYC for a new role with the company. Knowing Irene is an avid traveler, a coworker asked Irene about her next adventure. She shared that she was excited for a girls' road trip across northern Italy, ending the trip in Munich for Oktoberfest. Eddie chimed in and said he was also going to be in Munich at the same time, and so they made loose plans to meet up. Flashforward 5 months, Irene and Eddie not only met up the first day in Munich together, but ended up hanging out all weekend long. They made plans for Eddie to visit NYC 2 weeks later, which started a 2.5 year long distance relationship (NY/CO, then NY/WA, then IL/WA) until Eddie moved from Seattle to Chicago in February 2020. Irene had just taken a new travel role with PepsiCo, so they thought they would ease into living together since she would be back in NYC half her time. When the world shut down a few weeks later in March 2020 that changed everything. To their surprise, it was an easy transition from their long distance relationship to spending 24/7 together. In August 2021, Irene and Eddie decided to take a trip to Hawaii for Eddie's belated birthday celebration. They stopped in LA for a 20hr overnight layover to drop off their dog Angus McScruffin with Irene's parents. In that time, Eddie managed to talk to both of Irene's parents for her hand in marriage without her noticing, drive to downtown and back to pick up her ring from the jeweler, and drive to the airport with ample time before their early afternoon flight. One week later while walking along the Kapalua Coastal Trail, Eddie got down on one knee and proposed to Irene as the sun was setting over the bay. We are so looking forward to our biggest adventure yet with all our favorite people in September!