The Spark (and the 15-Minute Warning)

Every great story needs a catalyst. Ours was a last-minute text.

In August 2020, in the middle of COVID, Matt woke up on a Saturday with no plans. He texted his friend Hunter: What are you up to?

Hunter replied, “We’re coming in fifteen minutes. Get ready.” And hung up.

Fifteen minutes later, Matt’s Brooklyn doorbell rang. Hunter and Sheila walked in, along with a couple friends and a girl Matt had never met before. Arshiya.

It was Arshiya’s first Saturday living in New York City. Hunter had promised to show her “this amazing place,” which in 2020 Brooklyn meant one rare and highly coveted thing: a backyard.

Matt made coffees for everyone. Arshiya clocked the hospitality immediately and the barista skills. What started as a casual backyard hang turned into a full-day adventure around Brooklyn. They talked design, fashion, technology, blockchain, food, ambition, and family. Both left intrigued.

Then, silence.

Matt didn’t text. He figured if it was real, it would come back around.

Arshiya decided not to leave that to chance.

The HelloFresh Offensive

Arshiya asked Hunter for Matt’s number and sent him a HelloFresh box as her very first text. No small talk. Just dinner.

Matt responded immediately and enthusiastically. The HelloFresh box turned into photos of plated meals. The photos turned into a first date.

With New York still mostly closed, they started at an art gallery and walked nearly the entire length of Manhattan. Ten hours. 30,000 steps. Late-night pizza. Conversations about life, purpose, sustainability, healthcare, cars with spoilers, and where they wanted to go in the world.

By the end of the night, it was obvious this was not casual.

On their second date, Arshiya biked from the East Village to Crown Heights in the rain. When her bike broke down midway, she kept going and showed up drenched. Matt loved that about her. Strong-willed. Determined. Not the type to turn back.

The Build

HelloFresh became home-cooked dinners, eventually retired once Matt convinced her they could out-cook the subscription box. Weekends became weeknights and separate apartments became shared keys.

They moved into Greenpoint together and did what they love most: host. Friends constantly cycling through their living room, having long dinners and building a strong community.

Over time, life deepened. They supported each other through product launches, career pivots, late nights, early flights, family milestones, and everything in between. They traveled the world together, building memories across cities and continents while building a life side by side at home.

When Arshiya decided to pursue her MBA at MIT, they packed up Brooklyn and moved to Boston, choosing growth and adventure together.

The Helicopter Plot Twist

Early in the relationship, Arshiya made one thing very clear: if Matt ever proposed without consulting her girlfriends and brother, he would be a fool.

So Matt scheduled a full Zoom council.

One slightly chaotic Uber ride in New York later, with Matt visibly stressed and Arshiya calmly suggesting they could “just take a bike,” they arrived just in time for a helicopter departure she did not know existed. They were the only passengers.

The helicopter led to a waiting sports car, which carried them through the winding mountain roads up to Bear Mountain in upstate New York just as the sky turned golden at sunset.

There, after reading the words he had carefully prepared, Matt got down on one knee.

The rest of the weekend was spent celebrating in the mountains with friends and family, including the very people who introduced them that first Saturday.

The Next Chapter: Full Circle

What began with a spontaneous backyard hang in Brooklyn has become a partnership rooted in curiosity, ambition, hospitality, and deep love.

We have built homes, moved cities, changed jobs, and brought our families and cultures together along the way.

Through it all, the constant has been the people around us. The friends who showed up that first Saturday and our families, who have welcomed each of us as their own. The community that filled our living room in Brooklyn and now stretches far beyond it.

Now we get to gather everyone who has shaped this journey for a wedding weekend in Michigan.

We are deeply grateful to celebrate this next chapter surrounded by the people we love most.