Alex and Nichole's love story starts on the dance floor at the Black Rose, an old Irish pub in the center of Boston. In November 2019, Alex was living in Bangor, Maine as a morning news anchor. Persuaded by his roommate Andrew, Alex decided he'd tag along for a weekend trip to Boston. Nichole was living in the North End of Boston and had spent the day out with friends like she had hundreds of times before. Neither of them was in the mood to be at the Black Rose that night, and they weren't looking to meet anyone, but fate had something else in store. They aren't sure how long they'd both been at the bar before noticing each other, but once they locked eyes on the dance floor it was hard to see anyone else. One of Nichole's favorite party tricks is to pretend she knows how to Irish stepdance because she took a Riverdance class in the third grade. As Nichole was pretending to Irish stepdance to make her friends laugh, she looked over and saw Alex mocking her moves. After some nudging from some friends (shout out Ashleigh Marks and Alex Galletta), they started chatting and Nichole let Alex in on her secret...the key to fake Irish step dancing is to do the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance with your arms back and chin upright...fools people every single time. Dancing turned into a conversation and they quickly found out they had so much in common. Alex worked in news and Nichole worked in public relations. Alex recently ran a marathon and Nichole recently ran a half marathon. Boston and Bangor are several hours apart but nevertheless, they exchanged numbers and kept in touch despite the distance. Fast forward a few weeks, Nichole and Alex made a plan to meet up in Portland, Maine, a halfway point between Boston and Bangor. Before Nichole left to meet Alex that day, she joked with her friends Karleigh and Lindsey saying she was "off to meet her husband for brunch." After nervously settling in, the brunch conversation started to flow easily and it felt like they'd known each other their whole lives. It was clear that they had something special and it didn't matter how far apart they lived from one another. Things only got better from that weekend on and soon enough they fell in love. Their relationship was accelerated due to the pandemic. Just a few months into dating, Nichole went to live with Alex, his roommate Andrew and Andrew's now-fiancé. What she thought would be a one or two-week stay turned into several months of living together. While the pandemic was a challenge for many, it allowed Nichole and Alex to spend so much time together. After his stint in Maine, Alex eventually left his news job and moved to Boston where he and Nichole got their first apartment together in the North End. In September of 2022, Alex and Nichole went to the Almalfi Coast in Italy with their friends Ashleigh, Karleigh, Lindsey and Nick. Leading up to the trip, Nichole kept telling Alex that it was going to be one of the best weeks of their lives. Alex would make sure of that. On their first morning in Praiano, a very hungover trip to the villa terrace for pictures turned into an unforgettable moment. Alex got down on one knee and proposed. The usually-indecisive Nichole responded with the surest "yes" she'd ever given. Along the way, they've grown to love each other's family and friends and can't wait to celebrate alongside them on September 15, 2023. See you soon!