It all began after now-bridesmaid Meghan’s engagement party in 2019—because what better time to potentially meet your future fiancé than when someone else is celebrating theirs? After the party, Nicole went out with some friends and ended up at Social 52, where fate (and maybe a couple of cocktails) stepped in.

That’s when she saw him. Charlie. Sitting alone in a booth like some mysterious rom-com character just waiting to be cast. She immediately thought, Wow, he’s cute. Why is he alone? Is this a trap? Naturally, she sent her now-bridesmaid Nicole to do the recon work and ask if he had a girlfriend. He said no. GREEN LIGHT. Nicole slid right into the booth like it was meant to be—and honestly, she hasn’t really left since.

From there, they became great friends —very good friends—aka, Nicole kept not-so-subtly telling him she liked him and Charlie kept pretending not to hear her. The timing was never quite right, and neither of them were really ready for a serious relationship, but Nicole always knew deep down he was the one (even if it took him a little longer to catch on).

During those years, even when they weren’t together, they both silently prayed for each other—for happiness, for clarity, for whatever was meant to be. Little did they know, all that time, they were each other’s answered prayer.

Then, five years later, in 2024, Charlie finally decided to stop playing hard to get (or maybe he just got tired of Nicole’s persistence). Either way, he decided to give them a shot, and honestly, it was about time. From there, things moved fast—because why wait when you already know you’ve got the good stuff? Spoiler alert: Nicole was right all along.