Scott and Natalia met through a dating app in February 2016. On their first date, they both felt like they were chatting with an old friend. Scott wasted no time in asking for a second date, which Natalia happily accepted. When Scott texted Natalia with logistic details the evening prior to the next date, Natalia’s heart fluttered. Two months into dating, Natalia mentioned that she had plans to attend a friend’s wedding in Italy followed by a 10-day road trip with her parents. Scott’s version: Scott half-jokingly suggested, “Do you need a date to that wedding?” Natalia laughed it off, but then asked, “Wait, are you serious?” To their mutual amusement, he was. Best case scenario, everything would go well and their relationship would advance. Worst case scenario, they’d break up and he would be left on the side of the road…but hey, at least he’d be in Italy. Thankfully it was the former and the trip skyrocketed their relationship to new heights. Natalia’s version: Scott invited himself to Italy. It went well. Fast-forward to Christmas 2020 when Scott proposed. Due to the pandemic, the normally-robust dinner table was more intimate than usual. Natalia’s family has a tradition (since 1994!) that guests sign a special red tablecloth after Christmas dinner and Natalia’s aunt then embroiders the inscriptions. Unbeknownst to Natalia and her family, Scott had planned for over a year to propose using the tablecloth. With the smaller gathering, the tradition was almost bypassed for the first time in its 26-year history. After some last-minute scrambling to ensure everything went according to his plan, Scott wrote “Natalia, will you marry me?” on the tablecloth, covered it with a napkin, and called Natalia over to ask her a question. Caught off guard in the moment with the joyful surprise, she exclaimed, “Yes, of course!” We are overjoyed to celebrate the beginning of our next chapter with family and friends, and we hope you will be able to join us on our special day!