Our Story

High School Sweethearts

Sara and Ian first met in middle school honors band, where they both played French horn. Sara hated Ian for being better at the instrument and vowed that she would beat him out for first chair one day.

Two years later, in 2010, she did just that. For the rest of the time they played together, Sara would be first horn and Ian would be second.

But all that time as stand partners must have payed off, because they began dating at the beginning of 2011. Their first kiss, fittingly enough, was at the PMEA all-state band concert in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Bright College Days

Ian moved to Philadelphia in 2012 for college, and Sara followed a year later in 2013. Although they no longer played horn together, the two would continue to date through most of their college years.

At some point during these years, Ian ditched the bowl cut for a more stylish fade. This is probably related to Sara's decision to continue dating him. Sara also got her first dog, Annabelle the beagle, during her senior year.

When Ian graduated, he moved to San Francisco to work for Airbnb. Sara planned to follow a year later when she graduated; but SIKE! Ian took a job at a startup in New York instead. Sara was irate, but their relationship survived: instead of breaking up with him, she got a revenge dog, Luna.

Moving In Together

The pair lived their first year together in East Orange, New Jersey. While Ian worked at the startup, Sara enrolled in the Grace Hopper Academy to switch careers to software engineering - making some lifelong friends in the process!

Meanwhile, Luna was serving her purpose as a revenge dog: Ian fell in love with her. Now he's almost as dog-crazy as Sara...but not quite.

Life in the City

Soon, Ian and Sara settled into a comfortable rhythm. Sara rediscovered her passion for figure skating and began an intense training regimen, competing on the adult circuit. Ian, meanwhile, dove into craft cocktails - Sara was more than happy to try his various experiments. The pair also discovered skiing as a shared hobby - Sara had never tried it before 2018, but she was a natural due to her ice skating training.

In spring of 2019, Ian started shopping for a ring. Since Sara was a skater and Christmas is her favorite holiday (see matching sweaters above), Ian proposed to Sara at the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink in on December 17, 2019.

And the rest, as they say, is history!