Our Story
How We Met
On the main drag of Pittsburgh's Bloomfield neighborhood, the warm yellow lights inside Fukuda, a Japanese sushi restaurant that accepted cryptocurrency as a method of payment in 2014, flooded out of the single-pane door and front-facing window booth. February, winter, dark at 5:30… A meeting is scheduled to discuss hosting a St. Patrick's Day block party. Matt and Alaina meet, sitting diagonally from each other at a table for four.
We are twenty-somethings in Pittsburgh… working toward dreams, not entirely sure what we were aiming for, doing it with unbridled energy, all the same. Our paths weave in and out.
Alaina hosts a fundraiser dinner with a lineup of fancy chefs to buy kitchen equipment for the high school cooking club she's in charge of at the time The Brew Gents attend to pair beer with one of the courses. One of the few photos Alaina takes that night is of Matt in the kitchen — smiling, apron on, flat-brim hat, crisp white collared shirt.
Brew Gents hosts Pizza and Beer in Braddock. Alaina attends. The tasting room in Braddock opens. Alaina shows up. The brewery throws more parties, Alaina brings friends.
Conversation topics include: exchanging business experiences, asking each other for advice, and Matt making jokes.
Alaina's college friend is dancing in the Jazz Furnace, a contemporary art performance at Carrie Furnace, right down the street from the brewery. She invites the Brew Gents. Matt barely had enough money in his bank account to afford gas, so Alaina brought the beer. They tailgate with a few Rolling Rocks out of the flatbed of the brewery truck in the parking lot before the show.
Matt and Alaina work together. They find endless things to talk about, all throughout the day. Topics broaden: parents and siblings, SAE, Renaissance, Rene Redzepi, Seth Godin, the origins of the world. Art, books, music, spirituality, existence, brokenness in the world, optimism, parenting strategies (yep). They support each other at work and in personal moments, like death and dating. They become good friends.
Matt and Alaina hold each other's hand for the first time. Maybe this is more…
Discussions shift to cover: implications, desires, vision. What is this? What does this mean?
We call out a few people who love and support us closely to explore the possibilities alongside us. Dating looks like finding pockets of quality time together to cook dinners, listen to apologetics presentations, and do ordinary routines together… like, Matt washing the dishes in Alaina's sink.
Matt travels home to Hawaii to see family and thinks it all over while he's away. Alaina picks him up at the airport, and they drive to New York to see a show with Harold and Daria. In the car, for the first time in all their years of talking, the topic is love… and, they commit.
The Proposal
"I mean, it was pretty simple. I made sure there was a total solar eclipse happening, and then did it."
"A friend asked me when is Matt going to propose, and I said, I don't know but it's probably going to be with a diamond in a box (just the diamond). So, I definitely called it."
Where: Llano, Penasco, New Mexico at the Mothership
When: Dusk on April 10, 2024
What: In a clearing, next to a metal sculpture installation, mountains in the background
Alaina collects sticks and rocks for a "project" that she's going to create with them after the hike, stuffing the pockets of her vest and carrying them in her arms.
Matt imagines grand gestures and intricate pathways to arrive at a proposal. For like, his whole life, he's been thinking about it.
Instead, it is unfussy and uncomplicated, serene and surrounded by natural beauty. She is completely surprised. They are in a special place for a special time.
What We Believe About Marriage
I mean, it was pretty simple. Matt made sure there was a total solar eclipse happening and then did it. THAT WAS EASY.
