tinyurl.com/thedavidwedding2021

Victor and Greta met at Catholic University in 2013. Greta was a first-year student and Victor was a senior. According to Victor, he first met Greta when she came into the Residence Hall Office while she was moving residence hall rooms. While Greta does not remember this interaction, she does remember hearing Victor speak at an Admissions event. During his speech she thought to herself, "I want to be his friend!" The summer after Greta's sophomore year at Catholic (2015) is when they started to form a friendship. Greta was working at the university that summer and she constantly passed by Victor's office. They began to chat regularly about some of their mutual interests: Taylor Swift, monogramming, DC, baked goods, etc. Victor even drove Greta home from Taylor Swift's 1989 concert. That summer, Victor asked a mutual friend to invite Greta to a nighttime monument tour. Greta thought nothing of Victor's generous invitation, even when a friend mentioned to Greta, "Victor likes you!"

During the fall of Greta's junior year (2015), Victor invited Greta to "luncheon" several times. Despite summer events, Greta still had no idea what was happening. She honestly thinks she forgot that her friend told her, "Victor likes you!" Greta just remembers being flattered when Victor consistently asked her to have lunch. In December, Victor invited Greta and some friends over for dinner. Victor offered to drive Greta, but Greta tried to tell him multiple times that her friends could drive her so he didn't have to take multiple trips. Victor insisted on driving Greta, and so it happened. On the drive to his apartment he asked Greta, "How are you?" She responded, "I am relieved that finals are over!" Victor then said, "No, how is Greta?" It was with this question that Greta remembered her friend telling her, "Victor likes you!" Dinner that evening was splendid. Greta remembers Victor attending to her every need and being so kind and funny. Greta left dinner that evening thinking, "I like Victor!" and it was the BEST feeling. Christmas break followed and Victor and Greta talked constantly. On January 11, 2016, Victor and Greta had lunch. After lunch, Victor asked Greta out on their first date! Their first date was on January 14, 2016. Victor picked Greta up from campus, with a white rose waiting in the car. They went to Clyde's in Chinatown for dinner, strolled around CityCenter, and danced under the moonlight at the Washington Monument. It was absolutely perfect. On January 28, 2016, Greta and Victor went to dinner in Georgetown. After dinner they were strolling through the quiet, snow-covered streets when Victor asked Greta to be his girlfriend! Greta was so eager to say yes that she said it multiple times before Victor actually asked the question! Greta and Victor had a blissful first few months of dating including a classic DC summer and their first trip to Disney World together!

Spring 2017 was Greta's last semester of undergrad. Up until this point, Greta and Victor had only told family and close friends that they were dating. Graduation day in May also came with a public announcement of their relationship! Greta graduated with her B.A. from Catholic while Victor graduated with his M.S. in Business Management. Greta and Victor had a fun summer - including Greta's first trip to Chicago and a legendary trip to London & Paris! At the end of the summer, Greta moved to Harrisonburg, VA to start graduate school at James Madison University. Greta and Victor were not looking forward to a long-distance relationship, but as you can see - they made it through! Fall 2017 and much of 2018 brought a lot of 2 hour drives from JMU to Catholic and vice versa. Greta got very comfortable with I-81 and Exit 40 (there's a Chick-Fil-A & a Starbucks there). Victor supported Greta through the ups and downs of being in a new environment through their daily FaceTime calls. They found lots of midway meeting points that included apple picking, fun restaurants, and many a wine tasting! Summer 2018 brought TWO Taylor Swift Reputation Tour concerts which was INCREDIBLE! Why two? Well, Greta would not stop talking about the DC concert after they went. The following Saturday, Greta and Victor were visiting a few wineries to celebrate Greta's birthday. After the second winery, Victor told Greta that were not going to the third because he was DRIVING HER TO PHILLY TO GO SEE TAYLOR SWIFT. Greta sobbed of pure joy. By fall 2018, Victor was still working as a Community Director at Catholic University and Greta was in her penultimate semester at JMU. However, in October 2018, Greta accepted a job at Catholic. This meant that she was coming back to DC a semester early and finishing her M.Ed. remotely. Long distance was OVER!

If you have made it this far, congratulations! It's winter 2019; at this point Greta and Victor are both working at Catholic and life is just fantastic! Also, at this point Greta is LITERALLY anticipating a proposal every time Victor looks at her...funny times! Greta and Victor found a rhythm for this new season of life and really enjoyed being with each other while neither was in school. It was a wonderful time and other things in life happened but we'll skip to the good stuff... On May 4, 2019 Victor told Greta that they were going to celebrate her "graduation" from JMU (she had walked at JMU's commencement and finished two classes that summer). Greta did not think that it was proposal time because "he literally sent me a Google calendar invite, he's not proposing." Regardless, since it was a supped to be a special occasion, Greta did her nails and even got her hair done! On a very humid day, they found parking downtown and Victor informed Greta that their lunch reservation had been delayed. He then asked if she wanted to go on a stroll. This is when Greta knew something was up. Victor wanting to be outside in humid weather just didn't make sense. They made their way to the Washington Monument and as they passed it, Victor handed Greta her "graduation present." Greta unwrapped her gift, a book titled "The Story of Greta and Victor." It was an animated book of their relationship together: from them meeting to concerts to travels and more. The final pages said, "One spring day, Greta and Victor were strolling on the National Mall...and that's when Victor proposed to Greta!" Needless to say, tears welled up in Greta's eyes way before those pages, but as she got there she looked up and asked, "Is this happening?!" Victor got down on one knee and asked Greta to marry him - she immediately said, "Yes!"

Victor had timed things perfectly and they were right on time for their lunch reservation. Afterwards, they called their families and shared the good news. Greta asked Victor if they should see if any of their friends were free so they could continue celebrating. Little did Greta know, Victor planned a surprise engagement party at his apartment, and all their closest friends were there to congratulate them. Summer 2019 saw many travels, other celebrations, and the beginnings of wedding planning. Along the way, they've also enjoyed engaged life and preparing for their wedding. The coming of fall meant a return to university life and their work with students. The following spring brought a great disturbance to their lives, as well as the lives of their families and students. Yet, during quarantines and working from home, Greta and Victor still found ways to remain connected and continue planning.