He was a California boy. She was a Midwestern girl. He was living in St. Louis. She was in San Francisco. They were star-crossed from the start.

Ben was working remotely and with winter fast approaching, he considered different locations to snow bird. With family and many friends in Northern California, the Bay Area seemed like a logical option. He decided to surprise his parents and brother one weekend when they were planning a weekend getaway to Half Moon Bay. At the same time, he thought it would be a good opportunity to assess the area's viability as a winter escape.

A couple of weeks before the trip, Ben moved his Hinge profile to San Francisco. Who knows, he thought... Within 24 hours of moving his pin, he saw the profile of a girl who immediately caught his attention, so much so that he screenshotted her profile and sent it to his mom. Perhaps it was her beautiful smile, captivating eyes, look in a summer dress, pictures with wine, photos with her Goddaughter, or perfect California yet Midwestern yet Southern vibes she gave off. Whatever it was, he said, "I have a weird feeling about this one."

On the other end of the app, Emily was out with her friend Jeff Paulin when her phone buzzed. Crazily, she was at Burma Superstar, a restaurant in the city that just happened to be Ben's parents' favorite when they lived in the city together decades prior. She looked at her phone and saw a notification of a Hinge profile match. As she opened the app and saw Ben for the first time, she immediately had a gut feeling she couldn't explain. Ben's first message said "you're cute :)". The conversation depth grew quickly, sometimes taking over an hour to respond to each other.

After two weeks of talking in the form of texting paragraphs to each other, Ben and Emily arranged to meet the Sunday that Ben was in town. Emily drove back from a weekend with friends in Santa Cruz while Ben ubered up from Half Moon Bay. On his way out of the door, he again told his parents, "I got a weird feeling about this one."

On his way to Emily's, Ben stopped for coffee (obviously) on the corner of the street to shock the adrenaline with a bit of caffeine. At least, that's what he told himself. Emily, feeling a little extra nervous about this date, took a few extra minutes to get ready. She kissed her beloved pup, Roni, goodbye and told him she would see him in a few hours. Little did she know, she wouldn't be back for 14 hours... it was about to be both of their longest dates ever.

As Emily walked down the stairs and out her front gate, Ben looked over his shoulder. They locked eyes and were immediately captivated, that image of each other forever etched in their minds.

Their first stop: Golden Gate Park. Ben brought a bottle of Emily's then-favorite wine, Rombauer Chardonnay (he went deep into the archives of her Instagram to make this discovery). Feeling comfortable with one another from the start, they jumped in and talked about family and values. They finished the bottle together and migrated to the next stop: Cold Drinks Speakeasy (Emily and Ben had already bonded over their mutual love for sports, tailgating, traveling, music, wine, and yes, speakeasies).

From there, they went to Seven Hills for Italian food, another mutual love; it is no coincidence that the couple will be honeymooning in Italy. At dinner, Ben introduced Emily to her now-favorite wine: Amarone della Valpolicella. It's a great wine to be sure, but one could argue that it's a sentimental appreciation. Either way, the couple will be visiting Veneto on their honeymoon, the home of Amarone.

Both B & E swear they felt like kissing each other when they first saw one another at the start of the date, but at dinner, they finally shared their first kiss. After hours and hours of talking, they were the last ones in the restaurant and the waitstaff had to politely tell them it was time to go. Ben and Emily then went out for a night cap at Harper & Rye, which they also shut down, putting an exclamation mark on both of their longest dates ever.

Needless to say, Ben decided to move to San Francisco for the winter. After three months, Emily decided to move to St. Louis with Ben. On the way, they met in Wichita where they adopted Enzo and Italia. Ever since, this motely crew (including Roni) has been inseparable, moving 5 times together in 2 years.

Despite the fairytale-like elements, it wasn't always smooth-sailing. Both Ben and Emily have both had to overcome traumas and tragedies. But, through it all, they've become each other's center masts, sources of peace, and homes.

They cannot wait to celebrate the start of the rest of their lives together with you.