Blanco Tacos & Tequila

Rehearsal Dinner

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa

Wedding Day

Our Wedding

Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to type out the full story, which includes each and every one of you, for shaping our lives and leading us to become the people we are today, two people who fell in love and want you to continue being a part of it! Check out the "Gallery" page later for a (still limited) gallery of memories we were smart enough to capture on "film"!

Meeting

It was the evening of Northwestern's final Graduate School Holiday Party, and I was running late for my a cappella group's sound check. I had finally finished wrestling with my tie and ran up the escalator at the Belmont 'L' station when I heard the train coming.

I'll never forget the first thing I saw when I got up there... that there was no train and that I had run up the escalator for nothing. But as I turned my head to find a place for me to wait, the next thing I noticed was a beautiful woman in a black dress. Looking further, I saw a friend, Jamie, also on her way to the holiday party. Jamie asked if I wanted to join them, and introduced me to her friends, including the beautiful woman in the black dress, Michelle. Michelle seemed to be interested in the stories I told (for some reason) on the train ride down.

After my sound check, I spent the party looking for Michelle, and we spent the rest of the evening at the party, at the bar, and on the train talking to one another. I added her as a friend on Facebook and tried my best to happen upon her in the halls of Tech over the next week. Alas, we never crossed paths, but she saved the day and messaged me on Facebook. Less than two weeks after meeting, we had our first date and the rest, they say, is history.

Proposing

After finishing up both of our PhDs (took me a bit longer!), we set out on the next chapter of our lives together, moving here to warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona, right as a pandemic was hitting the world. This complicated my plans on proposing, but I think I found out a way of still surprising her.

When proposing to someone who studies diamonds for a living, picking out the perfect ring can be quite difficult! After much time spent on Google and various different "build a ring" sites, I finally decided on a solitaire ring to really just highlight the diamond and finally found the perfect cut to give her. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in Phoenix, but I could in Las Vegas. Over Labor Day weekend, we visited my parents in Vegas, where my father and I went out to "play tennis" so Michelle would never be the wiser!

Now that I had surreptitiously acquired the ring, I needed to formulate a proposal plan. I wanted to somehow bring our families into the fold while still maintaining the element of surprise. The ultimate idea was to plan a move, as it would distract her sufficiently and gave me a good excuse to invite our families over. We found a lovely house to call home and moved in on Halloween 2020. After we finished unloading our U-Haul, I went to the truck to "check" that we had gotten everything. Upon coming back, I informed her that she had forgotten a box, to which she irritably told me that that was not the case. I assured her that she had but, in her defense, it was a small box! I got down on my knee right then and proposed, to a shocked and now less irritated Michelle!

Now that her shock has finally subsided, we can finally start thinking about getting married! We are so excited to be starting the next chapter of our lives together, and can't wait to celebrate with you all! We hope you can join us on October 10th for an evening of fun and love &lt;3

Our Story

For those who need to fly to get here, we recommend flying into Sky Harbor (PHX), the WSJ's #1 ranked airport in the US, a hub for American Airlines, and base for Southwest Airlines. Most (if not all) major US airlines fly in here, so you should be good to go!

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

The ceremony and reception will both be at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort (5700 E McDonald Dr, Paradise Valley, AZ). Admittedly, Phoenix doesn't have wonderful public transportation options, so we recommend travelling by car, whether that is through Uber/Lyft or renting a car (there is complimentary valet parking at the venue). However, since there will be alcoholic beverages available, I would strongly encourage a ride-sharing app rather than driving yourselves! If you are coming from near the airport, drive on AZ-51 N until Exit 5 towards Lincoln Dr. You will take Lincoln for about 5 miles, after which you will turn right onto N 56th street. A half-mile later, turn left onto E McDonald Dr. Turn right onto N Superstition Ln to arrive at our destination!

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort

Hotel Room Blocks

We have rooms blocked at two different hotels, the <a href="https://www.sonesta.com/us/arizona/scottsdale/sonesta-es-suites-scottsdale-paradise-valley" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sonesta ES Suites</a> and the <a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/phxsjdt-doubletree-resort-paradise-valley-scottsdale/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DoubleTree by Hilton</a>, but feel free to use any hotel or AirBnB that you feel most comfortable! If you do wish to book from the hotel room blocks, we recommend booking sooner rather than later =)

Sonesta ES Suites Scottsdale

DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Paradise Valley - Scottsdale

Travel & Accommodations 

Below is a list of unique experiences to have while you are here in warm and sunny Phoenix, AZ! This compilation doesn't scratch the surface on all of the activities that you can take part in, but hopefully it is enough for you to get a flavor for desert life.

Outdoors

There are plenty of great places to hike in the Phoenix area, including but not limited to the Camelback Mountains, the Superstition Mountains, and Papago Park. Be sure to bring comfortable shoes to hike in and plenty of water and sunscreen, it still gets quite hot here, even in the fall!

Hiking

A beautiful way to appreciate the desert we live in! My favorite cactus is the prickly pear (especially with margaritas!) and Michelle likes the jumping cholla.

Desert Botanical Garden

Michelle loves zoos (she even wanted us to get married here, which I evidently rejected)! It is a very nice and spacious zoo, with a special section on desert wildlife because it is Arizona. Enjoy the Fennec fox above, probably the most adorable desert wildlife (either that or the sand cat).

Phoenix Zoo

Indoors

Have a spa day! Phoenix, and Scottsdale in particular, are well known for their various spas, where you can get away and relax. This particular place uses prickly pear and aloe in their treatments, to relax the desert way.

Aji Spa

For those who love music like I do, or just want to get indoors, Phoenix is home to the Musical Instrument Museum!

Musical Instrument Museum

Science! The Arizona Science Center has a bunch of hands-on exhibits (though I wouldn't guess that skeletal beauty would be one!) and the Dorrance Planetarium.

Arizona Science Center

Take a tour at Arizona's largest brewery. Be sure to try their Scottish style ale, the Kilt Lifter.

Four Peaks Brewing Company

Phoenix has the world's largest museum of fire fighting history, and includes a number of fire trucks and fire fighting tools. Help celebrate my maternal grandfather, who served as a fireman and later the fire chief at the Air Force Academy.

Hall of Flame Fire Museum

The Heard Museum is one of the premier museums with regards to Native American culture and art, with a particular focus on the southwest.

Heard Museum

Things to Do

My best friend and roommate for a number of years at grad school. He and I spent many evenings just sitting around and enjoying a bottle of wine and listening to music or watching TV. He was the first recipient of my patented "salt lick cookie", an absolutely failed attempt at a snickerdoodle. From hosting family dinners at our various apartments so we could get other people to cook for us, to just staying in and enjoying a bottle of wine, Kazi and I always have so much fun together and I'm excited that he agreed to be my Best Man!

Kazi Sadman

Being another only child on the street where Michelle grew up ended up being the recipe for a lifelong sistership. They have been best friends since forever, starting at a neighborhood cookie swap when they realized they lived 3 doors down. As her "sister", they grew up together, vacationed together, made scary Halloween decorations together, and much much more. I, for one, am grateful that she showed Michelle that Ryan's are marriage material, and we couldn't be more excited to have her as our Maid of Honor!

Whitney Shumaker

My best friend from high school. We used to spend all of our time being far too competitive for anyone's own good (me in particular!), playing lots of tennis, ping pong, and football, but luckily we have simmered down and can now chill and binge watch TV. 

Igor Pinchuk

Michelle and Cassie took German class with each other and would see one another at a number of events with some mutual friends. Quickly, they were the ones that became friends, so much so that Cassie took the trek out to Germany with Michelle to help her movie in. 

Cassie Grove

One of my roommates and my best friend in college. He encouraged me to start doing research and to minor in physics with him, probably because college itself was too easy for him. This later trapped me to a life in graduate school, but I try not to hold it against him! Now he keeps himself busy and challenged by being the founder and CEO of an IOT startup. 

Daniel Price

Michelle and Emily have been sitting next to each other since junior high, due to their rare W last names. They have plenty in common, through and after high school, having both played clarinet and studied geology. They first really got to know each other in the "Bye Bye Birdie" pit, and now they have both gotten pinned / engaged!

Emily Wivell

The captain of the high school gang, Gowth is the glue that holds the group together. He has had to put up with me longer than anyone should.

Gowtham Vijayaragavan

Michelle and Emma first really bonded on a band trip to California, where Emma made her go onto a roller coaster that Michelle didn't like (like all roller coasters), but they have been inseparable ever since. 

Emma Schwartz

For some reason, my former boss decided that I should be the contact  point for graduate students interested in joining our group, which has largely been regarded as a bad move. This led Ian  to email and meet me, in hopes of joining the group. This was also a bad move, and now he is stuck continuing some of my work and keeping my catchphrases alive and well at Northwestern.

Ian Peczak

Michelle met Hannah when she interviewed her to be a new research lab candidate and companion. She quickly became a great friend, especially providing youthful knowledge at our weekly trivia nights at Whiskey Thief and taking night long shifts at beamtime with her.  We still get to hear her high pitched squealing as we learn to conquer the Nintendo Switch together.

Hannah Bausch

Wedding Party

Michelle and I out and about

You can click on a picture to enlarge it and see the full picture, and may cycle through the pictures using the left and right arrows, if you prefer.

Engagement Photos

Same "rules" for scrolling through pictures, as mentioned above, apply to this section as well.

Ryan & Michelle

Ryan & Michelle

R&M

Wedding Day