Our story begins in the winter of 2015 when we met on the dating app, Tinder. Emma’s profile was a picture of herself being stuffed inside a gym locker and Mark’s profile read, "Classic Mark" (because, in his words, he was scared to be vulnerable). We instantly connected due to our shared love of the Chicago comedy scene. Mark was living in Chicago and working in sales and Emma was a Senior at Millikin University. They were hopeful they would connect again when Emma graduated and moved to Chicago.

We fell out of contact after our brief Tinder exchange. Emma moved to Chicago in the summer of 2016 to pursue a career in acting and matched with Mark again on the dating apps. This time it was on Bumble, a site that requires the girl to message the guy first, which Mark felt more comfortable with. Emma messaged him, "Do you remember me?" to which he replied, "Yes, let's go on a date this weekend!". And so we did!

We both pretended to know the city better than we actually did and despite being pretty unfamiliar with Old Town, we picked Fireplace Inn as the destination for our first date. Looking back, Fireplace Inn is very out of character for us. We ordered “Big Ass Vodka Lemonades” and appetizers as we discussed typical first date topics like, “What do you like about Chicago?” and Emma’s out of the blue, completely inappropriate question, “What medications are you on?” She promptly retracted the question!

We would continue spending the next 7 years together, exploring the city and making a life together. Our memories include several Lollapalooza weekends, improv and comedy shows, concerts, Cubs games, countless brunches and movies, running on the lake path, beach volleyball tournaments, ice skating, trips to New York, Florida, California, Colorado, and of course, Minnesota. Emma introduced Mark to the world of Music Theater (Hamilton) and Mark introduced Emma to snow boarding (now our favorite activity).

The past 7 years have been pure bliss, with the exception of the year Mark grew a mustache - Emma.

Along the way, we have been blessed with the most wonderful group of friends who have helped strengthen our love for each other. We are so lucky to both have friends from our childhoods, high school and college who are now our mutual friends. And of course, our families have been by our side during our entire journey, supporting us in every way possible.

In the spring of 2021, we moved in together and adopted our beloved kitty, Miles. And of course, there was Covid, which deserves a mention since it's right smack in the middle of our timeline! We had Covid together over Christmas 2021...but we made the best of it with our our little family of three!

Our life could not have been more perfect ...the only thing missing was.....the ring!

Our engagement:

Mark surprised Emma on Christmas Eve, 2022 on top of a ski mountain in Breckenridge surrounded by the entire Brennan clan. Christmas Eve was already Emma's favorite day of the year and this made it even more special! After saying "yes" amidst tears and hugs from everyone, we skied down the mountain laughing all the way! It could not have been more magical.

We have truly loved building our life together in Chicago, which has been so enriched by the love of old friends, new friends and our incredibly supportive families.

Thank you for being a part of our journey! We cannot wait to celebrate our love with you!

Much Love,

Mark and Emma