Liv and I met during our freshman year of college, introduced by a mutual friend (S/o Nick Rawn), before a Halloween party at Lodge. Our dorms were just 2 floors apart from each other in 17th Avenue Residence Hall at the University of Minnesota, and we quickly began spending nearly every single day together. If you ask me what our first date was, I’ll tell you it was the 17th Ave Dining Hall, but Olivia is more inclined to talk about our first “real date,” which was a Louis the Child concert. We dated throughout college, with me becoming the communal “BIJI boyfriend” to all of Olivia’s roommates, and Olivia proudly wearing the title of “Lodge Queen.” We greatly enjoyed our college years and made great friends, many of whom will be in attendance at the wedding. In 2020, after my father passed, Olivia supported me tirelessly and without complaint. Then, in August of 2020, we got our first apartment together in Minneapolis. At a staggering 695 square feet, and in the midst of a pandemic and quarantines, we were forced to either make it work - or drive each other up the wall. I think we did a little bit of both. It was in this apartment, while decorating for Christmas, that we decided to get our cat, Draco. We now had our own little family. During this time, I was starting my own tutoring business and anxiously applying to medical schools, while Olivia worked remotely at Medica. Once I got into Midwestern University in Chicago, we embarked upon a new adventure. With a symbolic “promise ring” on Olivia’s finger, we moved out of Minnesota for the first time, pursuing our life and our future together. While I began medical school, Olivia started a new job at Unum. Though these 2 years were difficult, with us both being busy and pushed individually and as a couple, we only grew closer and relied on each other more. In Chicago, we enjoy going to (and cooking!) nice dinners, attending concerts, our beach volleyball league, and spending time with our “med school friends.” After 6 years of dating, in May of 2022, at Milton Olive Lee Park overlooking the Great Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline, I asked Olivia to marry me. Olivia happily agreed. So here we are now, currently in our 3rd apartment together, our love stronger than ever, planning for the biggest day of our lives. We can’t wait to share it with you.

With love,

Luke & Liv