On this site you will find all the info on our wedding this November! The most important thing here is that you will be RSVPing on this site! Please get your RSVP in by October 15th! Invitations went out on August 6th. This site includes our registry, the schedule for the big day, hotel recommendations, things to do in the Woodstock area, bios for all of our bridal party, a fun gallery of photos, and if you scroll down here, you will find our story! We are so excited and ready to be husband and wife and we can't wait to share that day with you all! If you have any questions at all, including if you are having trouble RSVPing on this site, please do not hesitate to reach out to either of us! Everything you need should be right here but we are more than happy to answer any questions!

This all starts at the end of January 2021. It was almost a year into the pandemic. Katie was living alone in a crappy basement apartment in Ravenswood while working from home. Jake was on pandemic unemployment living in Pilsen with his good friend Frank. Pandemic boredom and lonliness drove the two of them to Tinder. Both had pretty low expectations knowing what a trash heap Tinder can be. Then, one Friday, Jake was swiping through profiles and came across Katie. Her profile mentioned the things she was nerdy about and that she liked emo music. He intended to swipe right to just "like" her. But ended up swiping too hard and accidentally "super liked" her. This meant that immediately Katie got a notification from the app and was able to see his profile right away. She remembers thinking he looked pretty cute and it seemed like the two had similar interests. She figured, "what the hell, why not?" and swiped right to match with him. Jake messaged her pretty quickly after they matched. His opening line was simple and not even a complete sentence. He said, "Favorite emo band?" Katie replied that it was Fall Out Boy because she was a teenager in the Chicago suburbs in the early 2000s. He said he would play "Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging" for her but only if she sang it with him. Their first date was on February 10th, 2021. He went over to Katie's apartment and they started talking while on opposite sides of the couch. Slowly throughout the evening, they moved closer and closer to each other until they shared their first kiss. They've been singing emo music together ever since and they don't think they'll ever stop.

By the end of April 2021, Jake and Katie were spending every day together. By June, Katie was officially out of her terrible apartment and moved in with Jake. Since she worked from home and Jake was on pandemic unemployment and they wanted to spend time together, they just did. The couple got to know each other so well. It became clear pretty early on that what they had was working and could be it for both of them. And so, they started planning their life together. They talked a lot about getting married and what their lives would look like in the future long before the proposal. They felt crazy, knowing they had not been together that long and were already talking about spending their lives together and starting a family. But as they say, "When you know, you know." Katie had heard that saying her whole life from movies and shows and friends and family and it always sounded ridiculous to her. But here they were, and it was true. They just knew. They stopped asking themselves if they were moving too fast. Instead, they just embraced it and became grateful that the pandemic allowed them to be able to know this was it so fast.

After months of planning, Katie and Jake embarked on a huge road trip to her family's cabin in Colorado in early August 2021. On the way, they took a detour north to explore the Badlands in South Dakota. While driving through the scenic Badlands Loop, Jake suggested they pull over to take in the view. As Katie was looking out over the spectacular rock formations carved out over thousands of years, Jake started talking about how much he loved Katie and how excited he was for their life together. Katie agreed and commented how amazing it was to be somewhere so beautiful. Then she turned around to see Jake down on one knee. It was August 7th, three days before their 6 month anniversary. It was the easiest "yes" of her life. From then on, the theme of the trip was, "We're engaged!!" Katie made sure every random stranger she came in contact with knew what had just happened. Since then, things have only gotten better for the pair. They can't wait to celebrate their marriage with you!