Our story

First

Kate and Jordan met on an ill-fated study trip in Mexico City during their first year at Stanford Graduate School of Business. They had each separately befriended an adventurous, persuasive classmate named Elizabeth, who convinced them to ditch their plans and join her on a “global study trip” with a bunch of second years. Well, the trip was a disaster — over-programming, tourist traps, and a nasty case of food poisoning that took all three of them down. And yet, somehow, they had a great time. Somewhere between the morning hunt for a cortado, the daily Jordan meltdown*, and the late night hunt for a cocktail, a friendship was born.

Friendship

Back on campus, Kate and Jordan started spending more time together, enjoying their shared appreciation for the art of the debrief*. Business school leaves plenty of time for socializing, and they took full advantage: they biked, skied, mini-golfed, ran in the Big Sur race (her: 7 miles at an 11 min pace, him: 11 miles at a 7 min pace), shopped, cooked, watched movies, hiked hut-to-hut in the European Alps, tasted California cabs, tried hazy IPAs, talked, and talked, and talked.

They were both single and ostensibly looking, but Kate had some baggage to resolve and a rule against dating in the MBA class, and besides they were friends. Never mind the fact that Jordan was falling for her, and that Kate couldn’t help but light up every time he walked in the room. Their friend Matt said what everyone else was thinking when he pulled Kate aside and said, “You know he adores you, right?”

Well, she did and she didn’t. She knew she wasn’t ready to take the leap, but she didn’t want to lose their friendship either. Jordan never made her choose, which made all the difference.

Finally

We’ll skip the part where Jordan told everyone who would listen that he was in love with Kate and didn’t know what to do, the part where he almost told her but changed his mind at the last minute, and the part where he decided to ignore her for an entire quarter*. We’ll skip ahead to the chilly February evening where Kate finally realized what she was looking for — and that it was right in front of her.

Those that know Kate know she’s a 0 to 100 kind of person, so it will come as no surprise that she didn’t sit on this feeling for long. Two whirlwind days later*, the night ended with a long conversation about their feelings, questions of whether it was worth risking their friendship to explore something more, and a perfect first kiss (in that order!).

Forever

They graduated in June and headed east for Brooklyn, where they settled in a 4th floor apartment on a tree-lined street in Park Slope. It soon became clear that marriage was not a question of if but when, and after a year of long walks in Prospect Park, they decided to get engaged on the main lawn under one of their favorite trees. 

They know that most of their story is still ahead of them . . . and they can’t wait to write it together.