Rachel and Alex met in October of 2022 at the gym... Well, not really. They met on a dating app called Hinge and quickly bonded over their shared love of horror movies, Nicolas Cage, and bread pudding.

On Rachel and Alex's first date, they met at Stormbreaker Brewing on Mississippi Ave and chatted for so long that the staff turned the lights out on them so they would finally leave. Many of Rachel and Alex's first dates were like this, and these days they marvel at the energy they had to stay out all night talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company, but that's perhaps the same thing that made them realize how special their relationship has been since the very beginning.

For Rachel and Alex's first trip away together, they went to the Oregon coast for a December weekend and stayed in the small town of Pacific City. Here they fell in love with the empty beaches, coastal breweries, and each other. The beach has since been an important place in their love story. It was where Alex anxiously proposed to Rachel among a sea of summer tourists in June of 2024, and is where they have decided to exchange their vows, among a small group of family and friends, and cement their love story forever in July of 2025.