Patrick and Julia met for the first time in April 2015. Julia’s sister, Hannah, and Patrick took French in high school and both signed up to host foreign exchange students during the spring semester.

Hannah chose to host Anaïs (based solely on having the coolest name on the list) and Patrick selected Jules (for similar reasons - probably). There were a few initial events where all the exchange students and their hosts met up for activities and parties. However, Julia was way too shy to talk to Patrick without being forced. A few days into the visit, Anaïs requested to go to the beach with her best friend on the trip. Hannah was scheduled to work so Julia was tasked with taking Anaïs to meet her friend, Jules. It was just the four of them at the beach, Anaïs and Jules swam in the water and Patrick tried to make small talk with an unwilling/unable Julia. Needless to say, this single outing did not solidify their relationship.

Jules, Anaïs, and Julia’s entire family were borderline obsessed with getting Julia and Patrick together. Julia’s mom found out where Patrick lived and not-so-subtly did drive-bys. Her Aunt Katie found a group photo of Julia and Patrick together and drew hearts around the two of them and circulated it to the family (the same picture included above!). And Anaïs and Jules made sure we all hung out every day while they were in Florida. After Anaïs and Jules returned to France we all kept in touch and Patrick and Julia remained strictly friends, moving at a snails pace towards something more. It wasn’t until the end of August 2015 that the two made it “official.”

We would not be together if not for Anaïs and Jules. Anaïs now lives in Florida and recently got married to Luca in the same backyard that Patrick and I will be getting married in! Jules is still in France tirelessly studying at University. Both Anaïs and Jules will be at our wedding so make sure to raise your glasses and cheers to them 🥂