In 2020—one of the strangest and most unpredictable years the world had seen—something wonderfully unexpected happened. Before either of us ever stepped foot in Northern Europe for our study-abroad program, we found ourselves sitting across from each other in the London Heathrow airport. It was supposed to be just another pre-departure meeting for our seminar, but fate had other plans.

We were placed in the same project group, two people who barely knew each other yet somehow began falling into an easy rhythm—sharing ideas, joking between assignments, discovering small things in common before realizing how many of those small things would eventually matter.

Then came Florence.

Our home base in Italy, studying at the Villa Rosa, and the sunset at Piazza Michelangelo became the backdrop to the beginning of ours. In Florence, the connection that started as classmates slowly changed into something deeper. Wandering through art-filled alleyways, grabbing late-night gelato, getting lost in piazzas and finding our way back together—it all felt effortless, like the city itself was nudging us closer.

We realized we shared the same passions: travel, culture, Europe in all its messy, beautiful variety. We loved exploring new places, trying new foods, and learning how other people lived. Every new adventure made it clear that life was simply better side by side.

And now, years later, we’re choosing to begin our greatest adventure yet—marriage—in Athens, Greece. A place we have already shared so many memories together and a sentimental place to Athena's family.

From that first seminar, to Florence, to every journey in between—our story has always been guided by curiosity, connection, and the feeling that we were meant to meet exactly when we did.