HOW THEY MET:

Even before meeting in person on their first date on January 16, 2019, Vasiliki and Vincenzo could sense this was going to be something special.  Their first conversations on Hinge (Hey Hinge – want to sponsor our wedding?) were multi-paragraph messages about culture, travel, work, and family.  Their first date, at “Little Bad Wolf”, (a restaurant in Edgewater that we highly recommend) was even better than expected. They started talking and never stopped – their date only ended because the restaurant was closing. 

Despite Vincenzo butchering the pronunciation of her name, and insisting he would pay – only to realize he had left his wallet at home – Vasiliki remembers being amazed that Vincenzo “was even better than she had imagined he could be” and that it was the best first date she had ever been on.

They had their second date the next day, the third date two days after that, and the next quickly followed. In fact, in the first year of knowing each other, they went on 145 dates which they chronicled in a very-nerdy-but-romantic google sheet form. Scroll down to see some of the highlighted dates from the year!

THE PROPOSAL:

From the start, both Vincenzo and Vasiliki knew they would be married, and, at the end of 2019, Vincenzo began the behind-the-scenes planning for the engagement.  His goal was to make sure Vasiliki would be surprised – which turned out to be extra difficult due to global pandemic that resulted in multiple scheduling issues, 4 or 5 scrapped proposal plans, and the ring (that he designed!) almost getting stuck in Denver. 

On April 10th, 2020, Vasiliki walked into their shared apartment to find the room filled with candles, the table set with a beautiful dinner and flowers, and Vincenzo in a suit.  Vasiliki really was surprised - in fact, she didn’t even realize that the proposal was happening till Vincenzo was down on one knee! If you ask Vasiliki, she was so taken by the moment that she objectively has no idea what Vincenzo said, but she is sure it was wonderful. Vincenzo agrees, it was wonderful. 

THE DATE CALENDAR:

Vincenzo and Vasiliki kept a spreadsheet of all of the dates from their first year of dating - complete with descriptions and fun “titles.” Below are some favorites from the list!