In April 2020, 4 weeks into the 2 week quarantine, Alexis decided to jump into the world of online dating. Living alone at the time, Alexis was tired of talking to herself. With the support, assistance, and editing skills of Maid of Honor Elizabeth, Alexis crafted the perfect Hinge profile which, of course, included a picture of herself with a goat. (The caption of that picture was “I’ve goat all kinds of friends!” and Alexis still giggles about it.) After a couple of weeks chatting and Zooming with pleasant people, Alexis ‘liked’ the picture of someone she knew she could love forever… Drogo. Fortunately, Drogo the dog had a cute human named Rich. And he ‘liked’ a picture of her in return. Thrilled about the reciprocation, Alexis’ obvious opener was, “Is that your dog?” Unsure of what he hoped the answer would be, Rich replied, “Yes! Is that your goat?!” (It wasn’t.) After chatting for a week, they decided to go on a date. But it was 2020, so they met virtually. The two talked over Zoom for more than 4 hours that Thursday evening and Zoomed twice after that. Following what felt like their 174th hour on video call, they threw caution to the wind. On May 16th, Rich and Alexis met in person for the first time at Bluemont Park in Arlington, VA to take Drogo for a walk. They’re excited to continue walking through life together and can’t wait to celebrate with you!

With holiday celebrations on the near horizon and a ring in his pocket, Rich quickly realized the perfect place to propose to Alexis would be, oddly enough, where she worked at the time. It was a pretty easy decision considering her office was in a castle surrounded by picturesque gardens. (Since the proposal, Alexis has changed jobs and now works at the Smithsonian's National Zoo!) At the time, Alexis was going into the office once a week, which narrowed down the possible days. Soon enough, Rich decided on a date and started recruiting sneaky photography help from Best Man TJ and his wife (and their good friend), Kira. Everything was set. Rich, TJ, and Kira would get to the Smithsonian Castle early to scope out hiding places and photo spots, while waiting for Alexis to leave at her very regular time of 5PM. Suddenly, the night before, the head of the Smithsonian threw a small wrench in Rich’s plan by handing out t-shirts to employees at a different Smithsonian museum. Alexis decided she would take lunch in DC, grab a free t-shirt, and then go home early… and Rich couldn’t even be upset because who can say no to a free t-shirt? This made it difficult to sleep. Once Rich had his morning coffee, he knew what he had to do. He told Alexis that he was actually working at a construction site just a few blocks away from the Castle and offered to give her a ride home… closer to her regular time. It was something he had done before, so it wasn’t too unusual. When she left for the day, there he was. But he was not in his car; he was standing outside the door. Alexis knew what was about to happen. Rich offered her a walk through the gardens. He nervously blew the planned route, to the surprise of the photographers, but recovered quickly to get back on course. Walking a little faster than usual, the two quickly made it to Rich’s planned engagement spot. Rich turned and asked Alexis if she would like to make a new memory in the beautiful gardens, to which she excitedly said, "Yes." And then "Yes!" once more, after Rich dropped to one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him.