Jordan and Nica met their second semester of freshman year at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. Nica first caught Jordan’s eye when they both took a general education art course that fulfilled their requirements to graduate. One of their first assignments was to recreate a piece of artwork that was displayed at the Nohr Gallery on Campus. Nica recalls Jordan walking up to her in the Nohr Gallery and asking if she knew where the piece of artwork was that he was assigned to draw. Since then, Jordan and Nica would sit together in class, and he conveniently never had a ruler so he could always ask to borrow hers.

Jordan and Nica remained friends throughout their freshman and sophomore years of college and were able to build a foundation of friendship before they started dating. Their relationship began to change when Nica attended a house party that Jordan and his roommates were throwing early in the fall semester of 2017. Nica and Jordan talked all night and discovered that they were both recently single. They reconnected and started talking every day and hanging out more. On October 24th, 2017, Jordan showed up to Nica’s apartment with a bouquet of roses and asked her to be his girlfriend.

During their time at UW – Platteville, Nica and Jordan built a strong foundation for their relationship. They supported each other in their academic endeavors, often studying and doing homework together at the library. They became interested in each other’s hobbies and attended sporting events, club events, and sorority formals together. Jordan even sat through Nica’s psychology research presentations. Their friendship turned into a loving relationship, and they found comfort and security in having the other person there to share any successes and challenges they were going through. Their strong relationship allowed them to grow as a couple, and also as individuals.

Nica graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville in May of 2019 and moved to Cedar Falls, IA in August of 2019 to attend the University of Northern Iowa for her Clinical Psychology Master’s Program. It was hard for Nica to leave Wisconsin while Jordan was finishing up school, but the strong foundation they built allowed their relationship to stay strong while they were apart. Thankfully, they did not have to be apart for long! Jordan graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville in December of 2019 and moved to Cedar Falls in June of 2020. Nica and Jordan lived in Cedar Falls, IA, until Nica finished her graduate program in May of 2021. Nica and Jordan moved back to Wisconsin and decided to settle in Madison in July of 2021 with their two cats, Dunkin and Milo.

Jordan and Nica have loved living in Madison; It has been a dream of theirs since they started dating in 2017. Since their move in 2021, Nica and Jordan have made a life they love for themselves. They have enjoyed all that Madison has to offer including going to badger games, trying local cuisine, spending the day outside by the lake, or spending time with friends. Over the years they had discussed marriage and what their lives might look like in the future. They fully committed to each other and knew that one day they would get married. Nica even started saving any roses that Jordan bought her over the years so she could dry them and store them to be used on their wedding day. The future quickly became the present moment when Jordan proposed to Nica outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building on October 18th, 2023.

On October 18th, 2023, Nica was working from home because she had a vicious cold. Nica and Jordan had plans that night to get drinks and dinner at their favorite restaurant, Naples 15, with Jordan’s co-worker and her husband (Shout out to Sarah and Jason!). Nica was so sick and congested she asked Jordan if they should reschedule, she did not feel like going to dinner or risk getting other people sick. Jordan was adamant that they should not reschedule and that they needed to go because that was the “only night that worked” for their friends to get dinner. Over Nica’s lunch break, she got a facetime call from her mom. Nothing out of the ordinary, but her mom was very interested in knowing what Nica planned to wear to dinner that night and if Nica could show her how to paint her nails with a French tip. Nica did not get any of these hints and as she had her nail polish out decided to try something new with her nails and painted them gold – not a color she would normally wear. Nica learned later that it was so hard for her mom to not tell her to take the gold polish off and risk the surprise!

When Jordan got home from work, he was in a great mood and got ready so fast. He kept coming upstairs to see if Nica was ready yet because he didn’t want to be late. Once they were ready, Nica and Jordan headed downtown and met their friends at Cooper’s Tavern for a drink. Again, Jordan was adamant that they all needed to leave Cooper’s Tavern at a specific time, so they had “enough time to walk to Naples 15”. On the walk to the restaurant, our friends asked if we could take a few photos of them in front of the Capitol. Nica and Jordan took some photos of them and then they asked if Nica and Jordan wanted any; so, they switched spots and they went to take some photos of Nica and Jordan. Little did Nica know, they were not taking photos at all! They started recording because they knew that Jordan was going to propose. Jordan started pulling away from Nica and she asked him what he was doing. The realization hit when Jordan got down on one knee and told Nica that she was his best friend and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Nica was so surprised and obviously said Yes! Afterwards, their friends left to go to dinner on their own and Nica and Jordan called their families. They celebrated their engagement at Naples 15 with the best Italian food and wine.

We want to thank our families for loving and supporting us and all of the friends who have impacted our lives throughout the years.

We hope you enjoyed reading a little bit more about our love story! We are looking forward to celebrating with you all on our wedding day!