The short version...Alyssa went to Africa and came home with more than she bargained for!
And for those who have a bit more time...
It all started back in 2015 when Alyssa was on assignment with Unilever in Durban, South Africa. She walked into the canteen (cafeteria) at the office one day and immediately caught Dane's eye. He says she had a halo surrounding her that day...she thinks he is just making a failed attempt at being charming. Dane proceeded to come up with a number of terrible excuses to initiate conversation with Alyssa before eventually Facebook 'stalking' her and offering to show her all the fun local spots in this strange new city she was living in. The rest was history! Kind of...
After a few months of dating, they had to part ways - Alyssa was heading back to New York and Dane was taking an assignment in Europe. So, naturally (crazily?!), they decided to attempt a loooong distance relationship.
Nearly three years later, after countless hours spent on FaceTime and many transatlantic flights to see each other, they finally found themselves living in the same place again.
After Alyssa survived the first few months of the pandemic stuck inside with Dane, he decided to finally make things official on July 1st, 2020 on the front porch of their new home in Chicago. She said yes because that is the reason you are reading this today!
We are looking forward to sharing our special day with you and can't wait to have all of our friends and family from all over the world under one roof. It's going to be one heck of a party!