How we got here, from each of our perspectives...

It is very fitting that we are getting married in Napa, considering that is where we first met! Although, considering a close friend from college is also one of Shawn's close friends from high school, our paths were bound to cross at some point. Back in early 2017, we were both in Napa with different groups of friends, and a mutual friend connected us for dinner and a night out. The sparks didn’t necessarily fly that night, but our groups had enough fun to continue to hang out back at home. But truth be told, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Shawn at first. The first party I went to with him, I was playing flip cup and when I was about to do my first flip he yelled “woah woah Laina stop!” and at the time I didn’t know that this was a classic Shawn Rooney tactic, so I stopped, and we consequently lost the round. I was so annoyed at him and at that moment I thought I’d like to be friends with everyone in the group, except him. I had no idea at the time that the always clapping, drinking game loving, almost annoyingly boisterous guy would be my future husband. Over the next nearly two years I just found myself gravitating towards Shawn and we went from only talking in group chats, to him texting me “wakey wakey!” every morning, to going to Rookies weekly just the two of us. And somewhere along the line, I realized that there was something more between us. One late night I went in for the kiss and he responded with “are you about to kiss me right now?”...luckily that didn’t totally kill the moment, and a few months later I informed him that we were officially together. Fast forward 5+ years, an apartment, a house, some tomato plants, countless home cooked meals, and a perfect wine country proposal later, here we are getting married! Now I find myself clapping alongside him and using the same drinking game tactics, so it's safe to say I have grown to love and appreciate Shawn and his big personality. He was my best friend before we even started dating, and I can't wait to marry him!

I want to start off by saying that there are three sides to every story, and I’ll be telling two - my side, which will also cover the truth. We first originally met through a mutual friend, Riley, who had planned a wine tasting trip to Napa for some of his friends from San Diego. Riley invited Andy and me the night before the trip, and Andy and I decided early the morning-of to make the trip up, because why not? After a day of wine tasting, Andy and I met up with the larger group at Napkins, where Laina and I officially met, no matter how fuzzy the night was. After that, Laina and her two best friends, Ali and Andi, became known as “the Napa girls” and we all started hanging out more and more. There were a lot of nights going out, trips to go snowboarding, and most of all, hangouts at Rookies. Fast forward a couple of years of becoming great friends, and Laina started to develop a sort of chemistry towards me. While we were both seeing other people, it became apparent that maybe we were a better match for each other. It took another drunken night out for things to reach the next level. Dating within a group of friends is always dicey to say the least, but we both thought it could be something great. After a few months of going back and forth, Laina decided that it was time that we made it official, girlfriend and boyfriend. We had been dating for about 4 years when I reached out to my best friend from college, Rob, for some help on getting an engagement ring made. I rounded up a few friends, Jeff, Phil, and Daniel, and we went down to LA to check out some diamonds, a trip that was disguised as a “boys trip.” After holding on to the ring for a very short amount of time, Laina had planned a weekend trip to St Helena, and I saw my opportunity. We took a walk around the downtown on the first morning, and right before we walked back into Southbridge, I proposed to Laina. After coaxing it out of her, she finally said yes. It’s crazy to think of our journey to go from a couple of kids randomly meeting in a Napa bar to planning out our wedding and looking forward to the rest of our lives together. I’m excited for each part of life coming with my best friend!