The love story started on an online dating app, one that was "designed to be deleted" and soon after dating for a while...it was.

It was October 2021, Alex had recently come back from Ranger school and Sydney was in the off-season of a demanding job. They both decided to give the dating app one last try. Alex described Sydney's profile as one of the only ones that looked "real"....no filtering or photoshopped pictures, no photos from years ago that didn't match the present day, and a actual glimpse of what he was getting. A girl at Lambeau Field with her dad to watch the Packers play, a girl fishing for bluegill off the back of the family pontoon with unwashed hair (we're talking day 5 hair) and a girl drinking a good beer or gin and tonic with close friends. Sydney gathered from Alex's profile that he had some Midwest in him too. He had pictures on summer nights in Indiana, snowboarding with college friends and of course, a photo with his truck. After a few exchanges they decided to meet at a casual bar, World of Beer. They bonded over loving the Midwest, having close family relationships and most importantly, their love of food. Their dates in the months following consisted of cooking dinner at Alex's house, doing errands together and taking Sydney to her first ever night of country line dancing. She was hooked right away!

Fast forward to August 2022. Sydney quit her professional baseball job and accepted a new one working at MacDill military base. Alex had planted the idea of working with the military months earlier and when the offer came through, he was one of the first to know.

One after another, things kept falling into place. Similar interests, enjoying each other's company and a common vision for the future. Above all else, their friendship and care for one another was always what linked them.

Soon there was plenty of family to meet and bond with, trips back to Wisconsin and with friends to make memories of, and an undeniable connection between them. Dating grew to planning for the future seamlessly, and soon they were discussing marriage.

If you know Alex, you know he is extremely logical and forward thinking. One day he said to her "maybe we should just get married at the courthouse". Sydney responded with a nervous giggle, quickly followed by "wait, really?" After some back and forth the realization was that "married tomorrow or married next year is still married to the person I want (and getting paid by the military for it), so why not tomorrow?" (of course, after talking to Brett multiple times first, without eluding to his timeline) Within days they had called two couples of close friends with their decision and invitation to be witnesses. They picked a Friday, made a dinner reservation for afterwards, and ordered a white dress off of Amazon a few days before the date. September 15th, 2023 rolled around and Sydney and Alex went to work at the military base like it was any other Friday, except they happened to be getting married that afternoon. Knowing their closest people would be completely supportive whether they knew or not (they did not!), Sydney and Alex exchanged vows and signed on the dotted line.

March 2024: Alex proposed to Sydney on the porch of their home they would be moving into within days. Now I know what you're thinking...."weren't they already married?" and yes, yes they were; but Alex wanted Sydney to have that moment of a proposal and be able to share it with friends and family after.

Memorial Day Weekend 2024: After 8 months of being married without anyone knowing (despite the many slips to their family and friends) Sydney and Alex were making plans for the year ahead. They would be moving to Pensacola as Alex was promoted to an Officer in the Navy. Their families knew that the move would be simpler if they were legally married. Comments began flying like "maybe you guys should just go to the courthouse and elope" and "you know you could always get married legally and have a party later" So together, Sydney and Alex decided to share the news of their marriage. It went a little something like this "you know how you said it'd be a good idea to just get married now and have a party later? We thought that was a really good idea....so good of an idea that we had the same idea 8 months ago and already did it!" The positive reactions outpoured (after the initial 17 seconds that Brett was both expressionless and speechless and Alex was sweating) from both sides of the family. Some felt they knew already, while others were in complete shock but the bottom line was everyone was happy for them.

Even though they are married already, Sydney and Alex can't wait to have a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of their love story. So here they are, ready to party with their hand picked crew, in one of their favorite places, to celebrate the best decision that they ever made!

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