Finer Details

What started as a playful Oklahoma drill in March 2021 eventually catapulted out of the friend zone and into the end zone. We built a fast friendship based on trying Chicago’s hottest new spots and finding every excuse to hang out—whether it was Paris dragging Griffin to restaurant collaborations, hoping the other would be at any odd house party we went to, celebrating the births of babies and promotions together, or meeting each other’s families. You might be thinking... kinda sounds like you were already dating? Congrats, you realized that sooner than we did!
 

One fateful night in October 2021, Griffin poured his heart out to Paris, and the rest was history... just kidding. A month later, we were out to dinner when Griffin gave it to Paris straight: “Let’s be real—we’re not going back to friends. We’re either gonna give this thing a shot, or we’re not.” To which Paris replied with three of Griffin’s favorite words: “You’re so right!”
 

We already knew each other so well at this point that we knew it was for the long haul—but not before Paris put Griffin through six long months of long distance, because she had long-time, big dreams of seeing the world. While we quickly learned how much we disliked being apart, we also learned how much we both love to travel—especially together. Cue: a wedding in Rome!

 

We share a love for food, history, culture, and of course, spontaneous excursions (like booking flights to Vegas to see U2 at the Sphere the same morning as the concert). Upon returning from Paris’ world tour, we moved into our first apartment together in the West Loop in August 2023. It was only a matter of time before Paris convinced Griffin to get their first dog under the guise of, “I promise it’ll be just like a golden retriever—except only a wee bit smaller.” We brought home our sweet firstborn son on May 6, 2024. We named him Randolph after the street we live on, and he is exactly like a golden (except longer, shorter, more stubborn, not as good at fetch, less loyal, and couldn’t care less about food—but otherwise the same).
 

We were so lucky to witness and celebrate so many of our friends’ weddings, and eventually the time came for Griffin to pop the big question. On February 23, 2025, Griffin planned a surprise engagement at Paris’ happy place—a beach in Florida. While the details of the moment are a little blurry for us both between tears and nerves, we can confidently say that there were many “OH MY GODs” and one big fat “YES” involved.
 

Despite getting a full family stomach bug and a real taste of “in sickness and in health” only two days into forever, we spent a week with our families filled with sun and love and capped it off with another surprise party back in Chicago with all of our friends.
 

We went back to Italy in April 2025 and fell in love with everything about Rome—including the exact place where we’ll say yes to forever. We’re so excited to tie the knot and celebrate with everyone in Rome!