Our story began in the most romantic of all places... high school band class. Max and Elouise went to the same school and sat next to each other in band class, year after year. But despite the countless hours spent in the same room, our worlds couldn’t have been more different. We didn’t talk much, barely noticed each other, and went about our high school lives in our own separate bubbles. Max graduated in 2020, just as Elouise was finishing her senior year during the crazy chaos of COVID. Life went on.

Then, fast forward a year or so, and fate had other plans. A mutual friend invited us both to a hangout at Nelson’s Ice Cream in the summer of 2020, and that’s when we reconnected. From there, we started chatting on Snapchat, just as friends at first. Elouise, in her own world still, just saw max as a friend from band class. But after months of talking and getting to know each other, something changed. Elouise realized how cute this boy really was!

A few months later, Max asked Elouise to be his girlfriend, and that’s when the real adventure began. Max had already moved to Milwaukee for school, leaving Elouise to finish up high school and navigate a long-distance relationship. But we made it work. Weekends spent together became the highlight of every month, and we learned to make the most of our time apart, planning trips to visit each other across states .

Elouise decided to pursue her passion for baking and enrolled in college in Colorado, which meant another 1286 miles between us. But we didn’t let that stop us. In fact, we leaned into it—planning trips to see each other as often as we could. Elouise came to visit Max in Milwaukee for Halloween and met all of his college friends. Max came to Colorado for spring break, and we turned it into an epic road trip—Moab, Park City, Denver, and more! That’s when we realized something important: we love traveling together. Over the next few years, we explored Washington, Florida (multiple times), and all over Colorado.

After Elouise graduated, she moved just a little bit closer to Max—954 miles closer, to be exact. But even with the distance shrinking, there was still so much planning involved. Elouise started growing her business (with some help from her dad building her a dream kitchen in his man cave), and Max was building his career in Milwaukee, working with amazing creatives and shooting some pretty incredible stuff. Then, in December of 2023, Max graduated, and it felt like we were finally in sync.

We spent the next month celebrating maxes graduation, and then, we packed our bags and took off for a month-long adventure across Europe. Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Chamonix, Barcelona—each city brought us closer together, and every moment felt like magic. Max explored all the museums, Elouise hunted down the best pastries, and we made memories we’ll never forget.

When we came back from Europe, we hit the ground running. We moved into an apartment in downtown St. Paul, where we made our first real home together. It was everything we’d dreamed of, and we even brought elouises families cat, Elon, to join us. We were a family, and everything just felt right.

Life didn’t slow down, though. Elouise was opening her first storefront, and Max started a new job at a film rental warehouse. We were both working hard and balancing our passions, but through it all, we found joy in the little things—cooking and hosting together and just being with each other every day. And even welcomed another fluffy friend into their lives, Appa.

Then, as our search for the perfect house began, we realized—yeah, city life isn’t really for us. So, we set out for something more peaceful, and we found it: a charming, navy blue, and yellow Victorian house in Powderhorn, just a few blocks from parks and water. It was our home. And little did Elouise know that the week we signed the papers for our house, Max was secretly planning the proposal of her dreams.

It was the craziest, most beautiful week of our lives. Just hours before Max popped the question, Elouise was in fuzzy socks, painting the house, totally unaware of what was coming. But when Max finally asked, it was perfect. He even had all of our friends waiting at her childhood home ready to celebrate!

And now here we are—excited to spend the rest of our lives together, surrounded by our family and friends. We can’t wait to celebrate this new chapter, and we’re so thankful for everyone who’s been part of our journey so far.