Where it all began! Sophia and Sam met through a mutual friend from college, Addy. Addy set up a study date at her room to get us to meet, and we immediately clicked. Sam asked Sophia out to a study date on Valentine's day (to which his sister Maddie called him an idiot for thinking it wasn't all that important, thank you Maddie), and by the end of the night they were officially dating.

In July, Sam and Sophia took their first of many trips together to Locust Lake State Park. This sparked a mutual love for camping, hiking, traveling and the outdoors for the two, and became a routine destination for a short weekend trip!

In August, Sam and Sophia faced their first big challenge as a new couple--Sam was traveling abroad for a semester in Paris. We celebrated one final dinner before Sam left and wrote each other letters to open when apart.

Sam spent the fall into early winter in Paris, where he studied French and spent his free time traveling around Europe. While he was away, Sophia and Sam kept strong and called daily.

When Sam came home, we picked up exactly where we left off! In February of 2018 we celebrated one year together as a couple, and started a college tradition of going to The Social, a West Chester restaurant, for their anniversaries.

We set out on our most daring trip together to date, a road trip that saw us go from Pennsylvania to Niagara Falls, Acadia National Park, and Boston, all in the span of a week! Acadia became one of our favorite places in the few days we spent there.

Along with traveling and dining at the Social, we also established a long-running tradition of visiting the mountains as often as we could and staying at Sophia's family's Pocono house for weekend trips for the next few years!

In 2019 we took our next big step, travelling internationally! Sam and Sophia set up a week long vacation where they flew into Paris, and split the week with Porto, Portugal. Sam was so excited to share all of his favorite sites and hangouts from his time spent abroad, but unfortunately came down with food-poisoning on the second day! They managed to make it to Porto safely, and they spent the next few days exploring the beautiful Portuguese city and finding out just how strong a few samples of Port wine could be!

Then in 2020, the global pandemic hit. Because we lived in different homes at the time and were unsure about the dangers and effects of the virus, we had to improvise on date ideas. We would frequently meet halfway at Stroud's Preserve, an park near West Chester that we would often frequent for small hikes and DIY mini golf. Here we found out just how crafty we could get with date ideas!

In 2021, we both graduated from West Chester University (we had graduated in 2020 officially, but the ceremony was postponed until 2021!). Sophia had finished her four year degree in Psychology with a minor in Art, and Sam had finished his 150 credits in Accounting with a minor in French and International Business.

In 2022, Sophia had completed her graduate program and left Drexel University with her Master's in Creative Art Therapy & Counseling!

By the end of summer, Sophia had officially moved into Sam's apartment in Lancaster and started her career working for a local therapy firm. Sophia was nervous about the big step, but it proved to be one of the best decisions we had made! We would spend the next year enjoying the time together and learning all of the bars and restaurants in the area.

Although Sam and Sophia had already discussed the prospect of getting married, there was nothing yet set in stone. In April, Sophia's family visited for a day trip to Lancaster. It was here that Sam asked Mike for his blessing to marry his daughter. By May, Sam had a personalized ring designed and made.

Under the veil of birthday plans for Sophia, Sam orchestrated an elaborate day of fun in West Chester for the proposal. Revisiting the place that they met, and even going to their old anniversary spot the Social! But the cherry on top was a surprise party with Sam and Sophia's parents, siblings, and Sophia's closest friends waiting just around the corner at a local bar and restaurant, Barnaby's!

Sam and Sophia celebrated the first anniversary of their engagement! Over the course of their relationship, they have made such an expansive collection of unforgetable memories during family vacations, celebrating the holidays with loved ones, and making weekend plans with friends. The couple feels so incredibly blessed by all of the love and support they've received, are so excited for everyone to come together in celebrating our biggest adventure yet!

Sophia and Sam celebrated their Pre-Versary, marking the one year countdown to the big day! The couple spent the evening writing letters to each other to open up the morning of their wedding.