Lena's version:

The first time we met was at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Lancaster. We were both part of Xia & Evan's wedding party, and as the Koumbara (maid of honor) I came in guns blazing, as I was running late for the wedding rehearsal and needed to provide candles, decorations and the Stefana (crowns) for the wedding.

I believe the first thing I said to Jack (and all the groomsmen) after I clapped my hands for their attention was "I need all of y'all right now!" I then handed him a 5 ft candle and said "Nice to meet you, please take this to the priest." I was in straight business mode and the only thing I was thinking about was executing my Koumbara duties and fitting in my dress (good news- it fit).

After the wedding ceremony, as fate would have it, we sat next to each other in the limo. Jack had the privilege of sitting right across from the cooler with all our beverages. I watched in awe as this 6'4 giant kindly wiped down all condensation/water off each can, for every single person in the limo. We chatted for a bit and then he asked me if I wanted the last "surfside" in the cooler. I politely declined and told him I hit my limit prior to giving my speech. He then asked me what I would want to drink after my speech. I told him that "tequila or a glass of rosé" would be my celebratory choices.

After I gave my speech I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Jack with a glass of wine in his hand, congratulating me on a job well done. I got up to give him a hug and told him to save me a dance. He replied with "You bet I will!"

A couple hours later and a whole lots of drinks (mostly consumed by Jack); I'm dancing with my sister, Margarita, and dad on the dance floor and feel a tap on my waist and someone whisper in my ear "I'm ready to cash-in." I bust out laughing and gave my sister my phone and drink. For a solid 10 minutes Jack swung me around like a rag doll; which was our first picture together, ironically captured by my dad, and posted above. The night continued with lots of dancing and fun. Later that night the wedding party connected on Instagram to share stories and he slid into my DM's.

I found out that Jack lived 5 blocks from my other sister, Popi, in Philadelphia. I had plans to be there 2 days after the wedding and that was when we had our first date. And as the saying goes, the rest is history <3.

Jack's version:

Can confirm all of Lena's story - that Thursday evening before the wedding rehearsal she came in hot into the church yelling for help and all I could think to myself was "who's this pretty lady??"

Over the course of the next few days before the wedding ceremony on Saturday, I looked for ways to try and steal a few moments with Lena. In all her interactions, she seemed incredibly personable and thoughtful, and I really wanted to get to her know her better.

She says as fate would have it, but make no mistake I made a conscious effort to make sure I sat next to her on the 45 minute limo ride to Harrisburg. As we were leaving the church, I had opened up the limo door for the rest of the bridal party to get in. Unfortunately, Lena was no where in sight. So I opted to head back into the church to "use the bathroom". There I see Lena, Evan, and Xia wrapping up with some family photos about to head to the limo. Lo and behold, I ended up getting a seat next to Lena.

Lena's take absolutely nails the rest of the evening - it was all quite a blur, not only due to all the fun of the reception, but also due to the volume of old fashioned I had consumed. I did in fact use the line "I'm ready to cash-in." In the moment, I thought it was incredibly smooth (it wasn't. But hey, it worked like a charm and now I have the privilege of marrying the best thoughtful, selfless, beautiful woman in the world.

The rest is history <3

PS Fun Fact - after that weekend I found a piece of dollar bill from the dance floor (apparently from when I was tossing Lena around like a rag doll) stuck on the bottom of my shoe. Soon after that, I put it in my phone case as a reminder of the weekend we first met

L&J

Ceremony

Cocktail Hour + Reception