Lisa and Ryan met in Territorial Hall, their freshman year dormitory at the University of Minnesota. They both played on the club lacrosse team and would pass each other in the hallway on the way to and from practice. Lisa and her friends dubbed Ryan “Lax Bro”. Ryan wasn’t sure what to think of this nickname, but he let it slide because he was just happy to get attention from her. Ryan secretly had a crush on Lisa, but he decided to play it cool (for four years, so a little too cool if you ask Lisa). During their time at the U of M, they ran in the same friend group and became close friends, with a lot of flirting mixed in along the way. After graduating in 2014, they couldn’t fight their feelings for each other any longer. There was one problem – Lisa moved into her grandmother’s basement in Edina and Ryan moved home to his parents’ house in Shorewood. Mom, Dad, Grandma – while they are very appreciative, this was not exactly a recipe for a successful budding romance. Thankfully, it couldn’t keep them apart.

Their first official date was a Saturday spent rollerblading around Lake Calhoun followed by dinner at French Meadow Bakery in Uptown. Ryan showed up in a denim button down shirt and chino shorts. If you google “worst outfit to wear rollerblading in 80-degree weather”, a picture of Ryan wearing a denim button down shirt and chino shorts pops up. Cut to 2 hours later at French Meadow Bakery and Ryan looked about as sweaty and unwell as you would expect a person to look after working out in denim. He didn’t let this stop him from enjoying dinner with his future wife. To this day, Lisa is still trying to persuade Ryan to rollerblade with her again.

From then on, they were inseparable. Ryan fell in love with Lisa’s kindness, easy going attitude, and incredible work ethic. Lisa fell in love with Ryan’s patience, intelligence, creativity and sense of humor. Fast forward through 9 years of fun, friends, travel, several apartments, thousands of pasta meals, and a crippling number of hours spent trying to decide which movie to watch, they made forever official on April 15, 2023. Ryan got down on one knee during a staycation disguised as a birthday gift to Lisa at the Four Seasons in Minneapolis.

Thank you to all our friends and family reading this. We love you all and cannot wait to celebrate with you soon!