Though they grew up just 15 miles apart in New Jersey (Rina in South Orange and Eric in Fair Lawn), it took both of them moving out to Los Angeles (plus a major corporate shakeup) for the bride-and-groom-to-be to finally meet.

In 2015, the week before Rina’s 25th birthday, UTA (the talent agency Eric worked for) poached 12 comedy agents from CAA (the company Rina worked for) in what came to be known as “The Midnight Raid.” Among those 12 agents was Rina’s boss, who Rina dutifully followed down Santa Monica Boulevard from one agency to another, and soon found herself at a desk right behind Eric’s in UTA’s comedy touring department.

Over the next few months, Rina and Eric formed a close friendship and it wasn’t long before Eric began manufacturing reasons to spend more time with Rina: from inviting the whole department to a comedy show, but secretly hoping only Rina would join, to pretending he didn’t know how to file his emails so Rina would have to “teach him how.”

One Friday afternoon in July, Eric told Rina about a comedy show he was going to the following night: a client, Kyle Dunnigan, was headlining The Hollywood Improv and Eric’s boss wasn’t available to attend so Eric was told he must go instead. Before Eric could even mention the extra ticket he had, Rina eagerly announced she would join, reached out to her contact at the comedy club for a comped ticket, and what would become their first date was officially set.

The following night, Eric showed up to Rina’s apartment with a six pack of Blue Moon (Rina had briefly mentioned it was her favorite beer weeks earlier) and after a quick pregame, they were in an Uber to the club, telling their driver they were a comedy duo on their way to perform their first show together.

Though the show ended at 10PM, Rina and Eric weren’t quite ready to call it a night. They spent the next 7 hours talking and walking their way from the comedy club to The Rosewood Tavern to Canter’s Deli, where Eric pretended to see Daniel Radcliffe and, in trying to impress Rina, approached a total stranger (who never starred in Harry Potter) and asked him for an autograph. Around 4AM, Eric and Rina found themselves sitting on a table outside a closed Starbucks, still talking and laughing, and as delivery men dropped off the next day’s batch of fresh coffee, Eric and Rina shared their first kiss.

What followed was 2 years of inside jokes, comedy shows, new jobs, good food, and bad movies. They continued to learn more about one another as they met each other’s friends and family, introduced each other to their favorite TV shows (Eric has now seen more of Gilmore Girls than he cares to admit), and discovered each other’s habits, both good and bad (they’ll continue to agree-to-disagree on which category Rina’s obsession with videos of babies dancing like adults falls into.)

In January of 2018, fate once again found its way into Rina and Eric’s life. As Eric’s parents drove him to Newark airport to go back to LA at the end of winter break, he told them for the first time that he intends on asking Rina to marry him. Meanwhile, at Rina’s parents’ house, Rina’s mother told her for the first time about a diamond ring that was left to her by her Aunt Fannie when Rina was 3 years old, “just in case someone is thinking of giving you a diamond sometime soon.”

Almost 4 months later, on the night of a monthly comedy show that Eric produces at The Hollywood Improv, he asked Rina to come an hour early so they could “eat dinner at the club before the show started.” When Rina arrived, Eric brought her past the main entrance to the side and up a set of stairs that lead to a closed door. Still confused, Rina followed Eric inside where she found the club’s green room decorated with flowers and candles, and in the center of the room: a single rose in the middle of a lone cocktail table. Their favorite song played softly over the speakers. Eric dropped to one knee and proposed, but Rina didn’t say yes…she said “yes, of course!” After taking a couple moments to themselves, Eric walked Rina down a staircase at the opposite side of the room where their parents and close friends were waiting in the showroom, holding champagne, ready to celebrate. That night, Eric booked Kyle Dunnigan on his show and they watched him perform at the same club where they first saw him on their first date, 32 months earlier.