It was a cold January Monday night in Chicago 2020. This night, the annual Speed Rack bartending competition was being held at Thalia Hall in Pilsen. Although we knew each other for 4 years from working in the same restaurant, this was the first night we encountered one another being single.

Brian invited Leah out for our first date: dinner and a movie.

We had tacos with a side of endless laughs at Tuco and Blondie before heading to the Music Box Theatre, where we saw our first movie together. It wasn't just an ordinary movie showing though, it was a sold-out director Q&A event for the screening of Portrait of a Lady on Fire. During the movie, we naturally gravitated toward each other as if we had been on hundreds of dates before.

So not only did our love story start with the fine arts, but they still hold a very active part in our relationship to this day and always will! Our favorite activities include going to the movies, watching a movie at home on the couch, seeing plays, or getting lost in the Art Institute together.

This is why we chose to take our engagement photos, which are shown above and below, at the Music Box Theatre. It’s not just where we had our first date, but its where we fell a little more in love with each other and its an integral symbol of the fun times we’ve had over the years and the good times to still come!