The week before St. Patrick’s Day 2018, Joe was out with his guys and Emily was out with her girls. The groups happened to collide at Kirkwood Bar while grabbing drinks where Emily and Joe naturally started talking. There was immediate chemistry. Joe had just moved from the Chicago suburbs to the city and Emily had only been in the city a couple months after moving from her hometown in Cleveland, OH.

With busy summers approaching, neither one of us were looking for anything serious. We then rekindled in the fall and realized 1-the scary amount of similarities in our personalities and 2- how much we enjoyed spending time with each other. We spent more nights in - cooking new recipes, binging new series, or bickering over who’s the better card player. While we enjoyed our chill nights, we also found our passion for food and trying new restaurants around the city.

Fast forward through 5 years of dating, 3 years living together, and lots of trips in between, Joe proposed on June 8th, 2024 on the riverwalk outside of Gibson’s Italia. While Emily was suspicious of the engagement, he certainly surprised her with both of their families and friends celebrating at The J. Parker rooftop.

We are so incredibly happy together! We cannot wait to celebrate our love surrounded by our closest friends and family in Cleveland, OH. June 14, 2025 will be here before we know it!