Nick messaged Marly on CatholicMatch, "when you next attend confession, it should be for liking New Girl." She rejoindered, "says the guy who's listed Pink Panther among his 'favorite media," and the banter had begun. Nick found Marly joyous, effervescent, beautiful, pious and funny. Marly found Nick hilarious, sharp, handsome and self-assured. Their second date turned out to be a lecture on the Sunday Mass's role as a wedding ceremony between Christ and his Church, and afterwards, strolling through a quiet neighborhood together, swinging on a swingset, laughing uncontrollably, they each felt a surge of assurance that can only be described as divine. Their months together since that fateful date have only confirmed and cemented their mutual intuition that God was calling them to love each other faithfully, totally, fruitfully and forever.

Because Marly can be so deeply moved by music, Nick knew he wanted to make her a song. His first draft was a fun electropop number, but it didn't express the depth and power of his feelings for Marly, and so over a two-month period he produced and ironed out a slow, choir and strings-heavy song in triplet time. He originally planned to hire a singer for the vocals, but felt that it was too personal for him not to sing it. To set the scene where he'd play Marly the song and pop the Q, Nick found a recording studio that had been converted from an old church, replete with the original stone structure and stained-glass windows, and constructed an elaborate scheme - with the help of some scripted texts and emails from friends and associates - to maximize Marly's shock when the moment struck. Marly changed some plans on the fateful day, threatening the entire surprise, and Nick was sweating bullets for an hour. But her radar had been sufficiently turned off by the fake emails and texts that he escaped suspicion. She didn't say yes..... but she did say "of course!" Hope that counts!