To set the scene where it all began, we have to head back to the early 2010’s, when Alyson started taking business classes at TCNJ with Patrick’s then-freshman floormate and “matchmaker extraordinaire”, Paul, and they became fast friends (probably so Paul could copy her homework). Queue a double eyeroll from Alyson.

Fast forward to September of 2013; Alyson and Paul are crunching numbers in the dorm while Patrick is “reading” for his economics class. At some point, Alyson becomes exhausted of reminding Paul that Assets = Liabilities + Equity and leaves to get some snacks and iced tea. Paul saw his opportunity and set his plans in motion; he quickly told Patrick that he was setting him up with Alyson, and since Paul’s matchmaker extraordinaire reputation proceeded him, Patrick’s typical skepticism flew out the window.

A couple of days later, Paul was having a party and invited Alyson. And while some may say the party was for the boxing match, others might say the real purpose was to execute Alyson and Patrick’s set-up. At the time, Alyson’s bestie, Kristen, and her other friends (all of who were nursing majors) had exams in the morning, so there was very little interest in Paul’s invite. But you know what? You don’t get a matchmaker extraordinaire title for nothing, and so he was quick to remind Alyson that because they both lived on the same floor in the Phelps Apartments, not only would she not have to go outside to get to the party, she also wouldn’t have to climb flights of stairs! Also, it certainly didn’t hurt that other accounting - major - mutual - friends would be there. Just like that, Alyson was in.

As promised, the party was filled with the accounting majors mentioned above, frat bro’s, and a very special guest, Patrick. For most of the party, both Alyson and Patrick were off doing their own thing and spending time with friends they knew, up until the start of the fight when Paul escorted Alyson to an open seat on the couch…conveniently next to Patrick. Alyson quickly admits that she has no interest in this fight, and as it turned out, neither did Patrick. So, instead of watching two grown men beat each other up for millions of dollars over the course of 20 seconds, the two started chatting. Before they knew it, Alyson and Patrick had been talking the entire night. Being the gentleman that he is, Patrick walked Alyson back to her apartment at the end of the party and was able to sneak a goodnight kiss before promptly having the door closed in his face (it was only night one, buddy!)

Later that week when Alyson had a test of her own, Pat showed up after with pizza (smart man!) to celebrate her being done with studying. After that, the two were inseparable and Pat was ready to make things official. During TCNJ homecoming, aka the only football game of the year worth going to, Alyson and her roommates decided that it would be a super fun idea to go drunkin’ - pumpkin picking the following afternoon in Princeton...if only they could find a DD.

Patrick saw his opportunity, and he took it.

The next day, Patrick picked up the girls for drunkin’ – pumpkin picking and was such a sport while simultaneously managing multiple inebriated girls AND pretending to be interested in pumpkins. After a fun filled day, Pat popped the (first) question and asked Alyson to be his girlfriend.

Ten long, lonnnng, lonnnnnng years later, after majors were upgraded to degrees, apartments were upgraded to a mutual home, and Fords were upgraded to Mercedes, Patrick wanted to make another upgrade from boyfriend & girlfriend to fiancés. He got on one knee along the Hoboken waterfront and popped the (second) question. There was a resounding yes, and a sigh of relief it didn’t happen at a Yankee game.

We are so honored and excited to have you all here celebrating with us as we start our next chapter together. We have so much love for the people in our lives who have supported us all this way, and we can’t wait to share our special day with you!