You may have asked yourself why Nathan and Clarissa have chosen to have their wedding in Charlotte, NC when neither one of their families live there. In fact, Charlotte, NC is almost exactly between their hometowns. Also, this magnificent city is the reason they met and where they currently live. They are excited to share its culture with all of you. Call it chance, but they truly believe it was destiny.

Nathan moved to Charlotte in January 2016 to work for the Charlotte Knights Baseball Team. Given his love for baseball, this was an exciting opportunity to work for a minor league baseball team. Clarissa moved to Charlotte from Michigan in April 2016 to be closer to family. A whole year passed for the two of them. Living 5 minutes away from each other, they often wonder if they "met" before meeting.

In April 2017, Clarissa's apartment complex had a meet and greet for all their residents. That is where she met mutual friend Rachel Mark who worked for the Charlotte Knights. Rachel and Clarissa became friends. One day at the pool, Rachel mentioned her work was having a birthday party for one of their co-workers and invited Clarissa to come. Nervously, Clarissa sat in the car and pumped herself up to go in. She is so happy she did because that is where Clarissa and Nathan met. After chatting at the party, Nathan asked Clarissa to leave the party to go out for drinks. Checking with Rachel to make sure he wasn't a psycho, Clarissa agreed, and their first date was the night that they met.

Since then it’s been non-stop adventure for the two. Traveling to France, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungry, and Canada; moving to Winston-Salem, NC; adopting their corgi Bean; moving back to Charlotte, NC; and living through a pandemic. The two are excited for the next adventure of marriage, and they can't wait to share the day with you.

September 18, 2020 was just another normal day in quarantine. The only differences were that Nathan's parents were visiting Clarissa and Nathan in Charlotte to see their new house and it was Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New Year). The plan was to venture out to the Knights Baseball Stadium to watch a movie under the stars. This was a great decoy to get Clarissa to put on actual clothes and not her pandemic PJs. While Clarissa was getting ready, Bonnie knocked on her door and said "Clarissa, Nathan needs you in the yard, something about the snake." You see, earlier in the week, there had been a snake in their yard. They were too scared to kill it, so it slithered off. This time, Clarissa was ready to kill it to protect her precious puppies.

She hurried out into the yard and said, “Where is it?" Nathan turned around and said, "I said you wouldn't see this coming." From there he got down on one knee, told her how much he loved her and how he wanted to marry her. He asked her "Will you marry me?" She said "Yes!" He presented her with the ring that he had spent months custom designing. A beautiful center diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds, her favorite Broadway show's logo on the inside made of rubies, and an engraving that said "Until the next adventure..." (which is what they cheers to after a vacation).

After admiring it, Nathan said "There is one more surprise." Suddenly, Clarissa's family popped out from behind the porch! After a photo shoot, they all got to spend the evening together toasting and eating a wonderful catered Rosh Hashanah meal. They were all able to spend the weekend in Charlotte venturing out on Lake Norman the next day. It was a wonderful weekend surrounded by family, and one they will never forget. A happy New Year indeed.

Some fun facts about the day:
-The house had some plumbing issues and a plumber was supposed to come right at proposal time to fix it. Nathan had to call that off to avoid having a plumber at their engagement party. He came the next day.
-Clarissa called her mom around 5PM. Her mom pulled out her acting skills pretending to be at her after school care program. She said "Hang on.... sit down and eat your snack!" Little did Clarissa know; she was in a hotel room 5 minutes away saying that to her brother Baines and his girlfriend Elizabeth!