COVID may have slowed us down, but now it’s time to party!!

One night while Rich was working as a bartender at Union League Cafe, a couple came in and sat at the bar for drinks and dessert. The couple was one of Kelsey’s coworkers and her boyfriend. After striking up conversation, the couple realized that their bartender had a lot of things in common with Kelsey. They made sure Rich was single then reached out to Kelsey and told her that she had to go to ULC for happy hour to meet this mystery guy they had lined up. Kelsey was away in California during the time this was all being planned. Once she got back, the frequent inquiries of “so did you go?” and “when are you going to Union League?!” wore her down. She grabbed a girlfriend and went to the bar one Monday night. It took about an hour of being there before she finally told the bartender who she was. Rich laughed because he had already figured it out, brought the girls a free dessert, and wrote his number on their check!

The couple went for a late lunch at Barcelona Wine Bar the Sunday after they first met. Rich made sure to order all the best items as he had worked there a few years prior. There was so much food that Kelsey had to pass on dessert because she was so full! Before parting ways, they agreed to plan another night soon to spend more time getting to know each other. For their second date, Rich offered to cook dinner at his apartment. He had a full meal planned to surprise Kelsey, and show off his skills a little. Unfortunately Kelsey’s day with her parents took longer than anticipated, and then getting stuck in traffic caused her to be 2 hours late for their date! Luckily Rich didn’t mind...because look at them now!

As part of a summer vacation, the couple kicked off a week in Canada by visiting Quebec City. During their first full day in the city, the couple headed out to the neighboring Montmourecy Falls as it was recommended as a must see by some close friends (and one of Kelsey’s soon-to-be-bridesmaids). After hiking up and across the waterfall, Rich wanted to explore the small orchard along one side of the water. While he claimed to put his camera back in his backpack, he pulled out his sweatshirt and in the pocket was a small box. By this point Kelsey had caught on and may have tried to run away. Rich got on one knee and popped the question, and Kelsey said yes! Only one small hiccup in the plan... Rich planned the proposal as a complete surprise and had to guess Kelsey’s ring size. The ring was too small, so it spent the remainder of their trip on her pinky and then took a week to resize once they got home!

The couple immediately agreed that their target wedding date would be in the fall of 2020, in order to give them enough time to plan and allow them to have their big day happen during their favorite time of year. Hoping to maximize on fall foliage in New England, the couple booked their ceremony and reception at Powder Ridge. This small CT ski resort is nestled along a mountain and guests will pass a small horse barn and corral on their drive in. The couple hopes the views of the surrounding trees over the large pond will fit perfectly into their rustic, fall theme. The wedding party will have the opportunity to use the ski lift to get some great photos at the top of the mountain, and who knows...maybe you’ll get a chance to see the bride and groom take the zip line to get back down to the reception afterwards!!