Our month of sweet SK Love Stories continues with Sara and Taylor, a cool couple living in Brooklyn that we had the great pleasure of working with. From their fate-like reconnection to a very 2020-esque proposal, this happy couple’s story is worth sharing. Enjoy!
Names: Sara & Taylor
Current location: Brooklyn
Meeting date + location: 2015 in Philadelphia
Wedding date + location: TBD
Let’s start where it started. How did you meet?
I was living in Paris at the time and had come back to the States to visit family and friends for a few weeks. My best friend Jenna kept mentioning this guy Taylor whom she worked with in Philly and how we’d get along really well, but I brushed it off as I’d be living abroad for the foreseeable future. During that visit, Jenna first introduced Taylor and me at her Halloween party. Fast-forward a year, I’d finished grad school in Paris and decided to move back to the States, landing in Philly where many of my college friends had settled. While looking for a job in my field, I started working in the food industry at the company where both Jenna and Taylor worked. Our social circles revolved around the people we worked with and while we often hung out in group settings together, Taylor and I didn’t really end up talking much one-on-one. Then one night, I was out with Jenna and a few others at a local bowling alley. About halfway through the evening, we realized through social media that Taylor and his friends were bowling at the very same alley on the floor below us, so after our separate games ended, everyone caught up and went out together as one big group. As the night progressed, Taylor and I got closer and ended up talking one-on-one, and that pretty much sealed it for us from then!
The proposal – please tell us the story!
In a very 2020 turn of events, Taylor proposed over Zoom– which might sound a tad cheesy but was very sweet and completely surprising! Having moved to Brooklyn a few years prior, Taylor and I were planning to join a New Year’s Eve Zoom call and trivia night with the same friends from Philly. Prior to our big virtual gathering, I was going to have a quick call with my two best friends from college (one of whom would not be able to join the later call). I was so close to not even getting dressed up given the general nature of 2020 and the virtual call but in the end, I decided to put on a nice outfit and do my makeup anyway (a rare quarantine occurrence for me!). I was just opening the video call and settling in when I noticed a bunch of windows on the screen with different handmade signs and backgrounds showing phrases like “Will You Marry Me?” and “Just Say Yes!” — I was so confused at first and had no idea what was going on; nothing was clicking right away. Then I looked at Taylor next to me, who had dropped to one knee and proceeded to ask me perhaps the most important question of our lives, and I of course said yes. It turns out Taylor and Jenna had orchestrated the whole call and had included each of our parents and closest friends and family members from around the country, allowing everyone who mattered the most to us to be there and have a really wonderful ending to an otherwise very difficult year.
When did you know that your significant other was the one?
I don’t know if there was anyone moment where it clicked, but we moved in together pretty early on in our relationship and really never had any issues adjusting to being in each others’ space. A year or so into dating, we decided to move to New York for our careers and on our second scouting trip, we found an apartment and each were offered great jobs all on the same day. I don’t really believe in fate or signs, but there seemed to be enough synchronicities in our lives together that I always felt reassured.
What is your favorite thing about your significant other?
He always greets me with a smile and is always happy to see me, even on the most stressful or trying days and even when I feel like I don’t deserve his kindnesses. He tells terrible dad jokes and makes the worst puns of all the time, but he does it to make me laugh, and more often to poke fun at him. And he’s an AMAZING cook, which never hurts. 🙂
What has COVID taught you about each other/relationships? Did you learn anything about your SO?
This time has been so hard for so many reasons… We’ve lived together for years, but never spent so much time around each other. And we’ve dealt with loss, grief and instability in a way that neither of us have ever had to grapple with. Especially recently, we’ve opened up to each other about internal struggles resulting from this unimaginably strange era, and I think that’s brought us closer and necessitated more intentional understanding and attention than we’ve maybe shown before amid the normal busyness of our daily lives.
What’s your favorite go-to date night idea? Pre or post quarantine!
Pre-quarantine, some of our favorite nights out were spent in the Lower East Side, seeing a show at the Comedy Cellar or catching a jazz set nearby. In the post-quarantine months, our “nights out” evolved into socially distanced rooftop gatherings and lots of Monopoly during the colder months.
What are you most excited about for your wedding?
I’m looking forward to kicking off the rest of our story with a fun and carefree evening somewhere in nature, surrounded by those who we care most about.
Let’s talk jewels – how did you choose this ring?!
We designed my ring together. I’d come across Sofia’s designs a few weeks before Taylor and I really started discussing this part of our future, and I’d immediately gravitated toward her natural and unique styles. After Taylor and I spoke more about a coming engagement, I–being the slightly obsessive person that I am–made a spreadsheet of all the various style elements I might want and then compared them to other jewelers. In all my research though, none of the other designers’ jewelry ever spoke to me in the same way as SK. I also loved that she made wedding bands for men that were just as lovely as the engagement rings, which few other designers seemed to offer. Once I decided on a shape and setting, we called up Sofia and the hunt for the perfect salt & pepper diamond began. Karina was so helpful in reaching out with great stone options, and once we found the one, Taylor handled the rest and still managed to completely surprise me with the proposal!
Finally, if you could add any piece to your SKFJ collection, which one would it be?
I dream about the Diamond Stripe Torn Paper Band…
—
Do you have an engaging story to share of how you met your love? Head here and share for your chance to be the next featured Love Story!
