Our love story begins at a dumpling party in the summer of 2017. At the time, Andrew was busy frying up several of the 300 dumplings he and his friends had made by hand. I walked in, gave him a hello hug, and let him be. The man was busy after all! We re-met several times over the course of the next year, but connected for the first time at a friend’s housewarming party in 2018. We started spending long amounts of time together, studying together, cooking together and laughing together. After a few months of growing closer and closer, we shared our first kiss on October 5, 2018. We are so excited to marry each other on our sixth anniversary, and for you to join us in our celebration!

In August 2017, I found myself standing over a sizzling stove, tirelessly frying batch after batch of the 350 dumplings my friend Frank and I had stayed up late making the night before. People were coming over for a brunch party and at the time, it seemed like a fairly unremarkable moment, but that was the first time I met Alex. The only thing I remembered about the encounter is that a pretty elementary school teacher from Florida gave me a hug hello. The next time I saw her was at a friend’s housewarming party, where we finally got to have a conversation. She was sweet, easygoing, and told me that she was planning on spending the year abroad in Spain for her master's. I told her that it sounded great and wished her luck, not expecting to see her later that year to find out that her program abroad was canceled, and she was going to spend the semester in New York instead! I found out she liked to bake and suggested that we bake something together, which ended up being our first date. Shortly after, I learned that her birthday was the day before my mom’s, and Alex was generous enough to send me home with half of a carrot cake that we made together. While she didn’t know it at the time, Alex had already found her way to my mom’s heart with her one true love: cake. Fast forward to our 5th anniversary, I realized how much I didn’t want Alex to be just my girlfriend; I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life. I spent months planning out a trip to the Poconos with our friend Ann to bring her on a “hiking trip.” The moment we stood gazing out onto the lush foliage of the Poconos and I asked her to be my life partner is one that I will play on repeat in my head as long as I live. From mingling at apartment parties scattered around the city to spending time together huddled in Alex’s 200-square-foot apartment, to Alex graduating from NYU, to me finishing my boot camp during the pandemic, to moving into our first apartment together in Columbus Circle, to starting One Smart Cookie, to both of us finding new jobs—New York City has always been the backdrop of our journey together. We knew that there was no other place that we’d rather have our wedding. I’m so unbelievably excited to have you join us on October 5th in the Big Apple, celebrating the incredible journey that has been and will continue to be our love story.