Ryan and Emily met at Relay for Life at the University of Oregon. They were both on their respective Greek Life teams and stayed up the whole night walking around the track behind Hayward Field to help raise money for cancer research and prevention. When the event concluded, a mutual friend invited them both to breakfast where they quickly bonded over Emily's freshman year roommate having attended Ryan's high school in Sparks, NV.

They didn't cross paths again until that December when Ryan visited the Bay Area and the two were invited to a party at Rob's house in Sunnyvale. Nikki planted the seed in Emily's head that Ryan would be a good match for her and the two started dating shorty after, following a trip to watch Oregon play in the Rose Bowl.

Ryan asked Emily to be his girlfriend on January 25, 2012 after staying up talking for hours in the Sigma Pi fraternity house.

Emily knew she was in love with Ryan before he knew he was in love with her but she refused to say it first. The saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" must have some truth to it because after a few weeks of long distance over the summer, Ryan told Emily he loved her via text just two days before she flew to Oregon to visit him and said it "face to face" via Skype the next day.

A "pinning" is a pre-engagement commitment ceremony couples in Fraternity and Sorority Life can choose to host if they're in a relationship.

The underaged members of the sorority (Alpha Chi Omega) and the fraternity (Sigma Pi) gather at the sorority chapter house, where the couple and their "pinning party" sit at the front of the room and alternate sharing speeches with the crowd.

Emily and Ryan chose people close to them to speak at the pinning. Brooke Karpacz, Erin Huseby, Heather Smith, Hayley White and Nikki Pirucki spoke for Emily and Patrick Cullen, Matt Swanger and Matt Hill spoke for Ryan. At the end of the pinning, the couple gives speeches to each other in the same way vows would be presented at a wedding.

Ryan then placed his Sigma Pi pin on Emily's chest, next to her Alpha Chi Omega pin. This symbolizes that Ryan puts Emily above his fraternity and traditionally indicates a pre-engagement, thus concluding the "pinning." The pinning is followed with a reception with plenty of drinking.

Ryan worked closely with Emily's parents to plan a surprise proposal in Lake Tahoe. He had planned to propose on the beach, at sunset, while both families were at dinner together. He even coordinated with his sister, Katelyn, to have a photographer ready to capture the moment. But, then a storm rolled in...

The trip was cancelled and Ryan had to decide on Plan B. He asked Emily to a nice dinner at La Fondue in Saratoga and suggested they visit a view point in San Jose he had heard about from a coworker. He proposed in front of the view and Emily excitedly asked who already knew. He kept her in the dark that her parents were in on it so when they drove to their house to tell them, Emily was surprised to find a surprise party waiting for her, which included both immediate families in-person or via Skype, her grandmother, her Uncle Fred and Aunt Margie, and her Uncle Jim's mother, Terri.

The room was filled with white candles like Monica and Chandler's proposal from Friends. They all celebrated with cake and champagne.