It all began at Dartmouth College, though our love story wouldn’t take off until years later. Four years before we started dating, we crossed paths at Ted’s fraternity. Katie came down the stairs, and Ted immediately turned to his friend, asking, “Who is that?” Unfortunately for him, the response was: “She’s dating one of your frat brothers.”

Despite the setback, Ted invited Katie to a game of pong that night, and Katie was charmed right away—so much so that she told her friends, “I love Ted Poatsy.” But timing wasn’t on our side, and we went our separate ways. Over the next four years, we became friends, often seeing each other at parties hosted by mutual friends in Boston.

Fast forward to 2020, when the world had shut down due to COVID. One day, Katie was FaceTiming with a friend when Ted’s profile popped up on Hinge. She was so excited that she literally dropped her phone! With her heart racing, Katie and her friend brainstormed what to send as a first message, but in a panic, she resorted to two emojis: 🌲👀.

Despite the world coming to a halt, we couldn’t stop talking and quickly realized there was something special between us - we planned our first date for when Katie was back in NYC. Our first date was a little unconventional (thanks, COVID!). Katie had been at a friend’s socially-distanced birthday party, after which she planned to have Ted over for their first date. Ted misunderstood, thinking Katie was inviting him to attend the party. He showed up for the date with Thai food for the group and champagne for the birthday girl! We laughed about the miscommunication, enjoyed the Thai food, and spent hours talking that night.

Just two weeks later, we officially started dating, and two weeks after that, we met each other’s families. During that visit to Ted’s family’s house in the Adirondacks, we took a quiet canoe ride under the stars. As we stargazed, Ted said, “I can see you in my life 50 years from now,” and it was in that moment that we exchanged our first “I love you.”

Over the next few years, our bond only grew stronger. Katie was studying for the MCAT and applying to medical school, and Ted was her biggest supporter through it all. Once Katie got into school, we made the big move from NYC to White Plains and started our next chapter together. Through the stress, we developed fun traditions like completing a New Yorker puzzle every Christmas (hence the save the date theme!) and hiking whenever we could! Over the years, we also took several trips together, visiting Vermont for our first anniversary, Asheville and Charleston during spring breaks, and even moving to Denver for a summer off from medical school! Whether spending a night on the couch watching Modern Family with mushroom pizza or camping out under the stars in Vermont, we have enjoyed having one another by our side with every memory we’ve made together.

After four years together, Ted knew he wanted Katie in his life forever, so he started planning a surprise proposal. The plan was to bring Katie to Flatiron and Madison Square Park, where our relationship began and where we share so many memories. To ensure that a date in New York City wouldn’t raise any suspicion, Katie’s brother, Matt, helped by booking a decoy dinner reservation that “he forgot about but couldn’t make anymore.” We took the full day for ourselves in the city–we went mini golfing and took a walk in the park, where Ted asked a stranger to take our picture. As the camera clicked, Ted dropped to one knee. Katie was so surprised that she barely managed to speak, and Ted had to ask, “Is that a yes?”—to which Katie emphatically nodded and kissed him!

We celebrated that evening with both of our families at the sister restaurant of the place where we had our first date. It was the perfect start to the next chapter of our story, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds!