We are so grateful to you, our closest family and friends, for celebrating with us in paradise!

Our love story began as many do these days - on a dating app.  Melissa had just joined and adjusted her age preferences, and Ilan popped up!  As she looked through his profile, including a list of his favorite things, she found it hard to believe that many of them were also her favorite things.  With a little hope, she sent him a message late on a Friday night and heard back the next morning!

The messaging turned into a phone number exchange, which led to a nine-hour phone call on Saturday, July 13, 2024.  Ilan was a bit under the weather after traveling back from Punta Cana on an independent trip (ironic how things go full circle).  Neither of us had ever been on a phone call anywhere near that length before, but we instantly connected and time flew by.  We spoke again the next morning for an additional four hours and decided that we had to meet soon - the next day!

We met at a local restaurant for dinner on July 15.  After a yummy meal, and even better company, we both knew that the chemistry we built through talking was present in person - and that this was, and would continue to be, something uniquely special.

Living less than 10 minutes from one another made the early days of dating very easy and we began to spend more and more time together as our bond tightened.  We planned a trip to Ocean City, Maryland for the end of August, had a great time, and by October, began planning our first long romantic getaway to Sandals La Toc in St. Lucia!  A few weeks later, on November 7, Ilan surprised Melissa when she was standing over raw turkey meat cooking one of his favorite meals with his first "I LOVE YOU!"  Melissa was elated that the emotions she felt were mutual!

From there, we had an amazing NYC adventure for Melissa's birthday, a magical time in St. Lucia that drew us so much closer as a couple (maybe it helped that there was barely a bathroom door in our hotel room) and made it through our first dark and dreary winter together - we both hate the cold and lack of sunshine!  Through lots of time with family and friends, and even more special moments together, our love continued to flourish with the flowers (many, many weekly flowers) of Spring.  We emerged in the Spring of 2025 with the decision for Ilan to move in with Melissa and make her house a loving (and complete) home!

While waiting for moving day, we went to Punta Cana together in April and had a beautiful week of beach time, relaxing time, a crazy excursion, and made so many other special memories.  The moving truck arrived in early July, and we celebrated with a trip to Jamaica in August.

Little did Melissa know, but Ilan had started to work with one of her closest friends, Dana - who happens to be a very talented jeweler - in the early fall.  (Shoutout to Dana for the most gorgeous custom ring which has Ilan's heart and soul in every twist, turn, and placement of each stone!  Ask us for the gematria, or numerical value, behind the ring if you haven't heard the story!)

Ilan planned an amazing "birthday" weekend for Melissa in mid-November.  While she had a hunch that a bigger moment might be coming from hints dropped and her parents' involvement in the weekend, Melissa was still taken by surprise and overcome with emotion when Ilan dropped down to one knee and popped the question on November 15, 2025 - exactly 16 months after our first date!

Since one of the happiest moments of our lives, we have spent some time relaxing (especially while spending time in Mexico through the new year) and a lot of time planning as we look forward to our May 30, 2027 wedding!

WE CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE OUR WEDDING IN PARADISE WITH YOU!

P.S. Both our first date and our engagement occurred on the 15th of the month.  Adding 15+15, it's fitting that we'll be married on the 30th of the month.  Additionally, the gematria associated with the Hebrew word Chai ("life") is 18.  When one life unites with another life, the result is double Chai (18+18=36).  Our two lives/souls (36) will unite to become one (3x6=18) on 5/30/27, and the product of 5x30x27 is 4050, which also equals 15x15x18!  L'Chaim!