It feels like the world wanted us to meet, as cliche as that seems. We first matched on Bumble, but the timing didn’t quite work out. We then matched again on Hinge a few months later, but again nothing came of it. Then one day, we spotted each other at the gym. Erik texted Erin after the rare sighting, and they finally scheduled their first date. On that first date, we both knew we found someone special. We fell in love in Southwest DC over ice-skating, falafel bowls, and the 13 minute walk to and from each others’ apartments. Over the course of our 2.5 year relationship, we bonded over bingeing seasons of Survivor, lifting weights at Gold’s Gym, and camping trips in Shenandoah National Park. We moved from DC to Frederick and began building our life together. We blended our families- Erik’s cat Sméagol, and Erin’s cats Spencer and Avery and began to plan for our future. Erik began working with our local jeweler at In Bloom with the idea to do something as unique as their relationship - to carve his own design into the engagement ring. Over the next 3 months, he carved their birth flowers into the band: a Water Lily and Larkspur for July and a Daisy and Sweet Pea for April. He also worked through the August heatwave to hand carve an engagement ring box as unique as the ring. He secretly filmed the entire process and put together a video to surprise Erin post-proposal. While Erik was making the ring, Erin decided she also wanted a surprise for Erik! Erin met with In Bloom in secret and began designing matching necklaces with a “love knot” they could both wear. Erik proposed where our love story began in Washington D.C. We visited all of our first date spots in Navy Yard and the Wharf before he proposed at the pier at the Wharf. Erin, of course, said yes. Erin was overjoyed at how the ring turned out, and the effort and dedication Erik put into the ring, the ring box, and the behind the scenes video Erik created. Erin and Erik are so excited to tie the knot in October!