It’s your typical boy meets girl, become close friends over the course of seven years, start dating, fall in love, and get married... eventually…

First Meeting

In January 2006, Chiara moved from Los Angeles to Chicago to be the tour manager for singer-songwriter Todd Carey. Brian was living in Michigan at the time, and some of his friends were super-fans of Carey’s, so he’d occasionally go to shows with them in Chicago, which is where he met Chiara.

Friendship

Brian and Chiara’s friendship formed over a shared love of music - particularly Dave Matthews Band and Guster. In 2007, Chiara went on tour with both bands as part of their road crews, managing sustainability programs for each. While on the road, she ran into Brian at the shows he attended. In 2011, the two went to their first DMB show together - which would be the first of many.  

First Date

One cold and dreary night in January 2013, they made plans to go out for sushi. Neither had considered it a date, but when he went to pick her up, Brian was blown away by Chiara’s beauty - suddenly seeing her in a new way he hadn’t previously. The way he tells it, “It was a random Sunday night, and I was dressed like a complete slob in jeans and a sweatshirt. Then, I went to pick her up, and she looked like she was ready to go OUT. I’ve never seen someone so beautiful. I started to wonder, ‘is this a date?’” Chiara, however, contends, “Sometimes I feel like getting dressed up a bit, though I definitely didn’t consider it a date.” Either way, over sushi and a bottle of wine, they had a deep conversation about the ups and downs each had recently experienced in their lives. Through that deep conversation they found an even deeper connection. Something sparked. When they kissed at the end of the night, little did they know that they were beginning the most romantic journey of their lives.

Rivalry

While the two share a love for the same bands, the same cannot be said for college football teams. Brian went to Notre Dame, while Chiara went to USC (the real one). On opposing sides of “the greatest intersectional rivalry,” the pair have made some epic bets over the years. Facebook profile photos, bedazzled phones, leprechaun costumes and more have been part of the series. Chiara is a good sport for the rest of the season, donning Notre Dame gear and attending home games with Brian in South Bend, Indiana. Brian, on the other hand, comes closest to supporting USC by listening to DJ Khaled and wearing a shirt that says “I’m here for the Song Girls.”

Four-Legged Friends

Chiara turned Brian from a cat-person to a dog-person when her Havanese, Nietzsche, moved into Brian’s house with her in 2015. Nicknamed “The Balls” by Brian, the trio had some of the greatest adventures together, including a very special “Ballscation” in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. In mid-2017, a year after Nietzsche passed away at a ripe old age, a new fuzzy child joined the two. Bucatini (a.k.a. "The Tini Man") brings joy and kisses to everyone he meets. Brian and Chiara love raising the little meatball and look forward to introducing him to more friends and family.

Engagement

Both loving to travel, the couple’s first trip together - to Sedona and the Grand Canyon - came only a few months after they started dating. Since then, they’ve traveled all over the world together, from their hometowns of Washington, D.C. and Reading, PA, throughout the U.S., Mexico, The Caribbean, Fiji, and beyond.

In February 2017, as they prepared for their biggest trip yet: to Dubai and the Maldives, Brian thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ask Chiara to spend the rest of her life with him. The pair never had professional photos taken together, so Brian surprised Chiara by hiring the resort photographer to take photos of them all over the tiny island of Halaveli. As the shoot was winding down, they found themselves on a private stretch of beach where Brian had prepared a special moment - complete with a dining table and hookah lounge set under a beautiful Arabic tent surrounded by flowers, sand sculptures, and a band. Dumbfounded, Chiara looked up and said, "Bri, what did you do!?" Then, as the sun set into the sea around them, he dropped to one knee and asked Chiara to marry him. She said yes, and the two collapsed into the sand. After regaining composure, they danced by a bonfire to their favorite songs played by the local musicians and dined on a meal of Chiara’s favorite foods. After so much planning, the trip turned out to be everything they had hoped for - the best trip of their lives.

Wedding

When deciding on their wedding location, Chiara and Brian had no doubt that they wanted to be married in the warm sunshine, surrounded by close friends, family and tropical waters. After Hurricane Irma wiped out their first choice destination, and no other Caribbean islands worked out (they investigated all of them), the couple decided on Arizona as a safer option.

To add an island event to the festivities, the two will have a symbolic ceremony in Seychelles as part of their honeymoon adventure in Africa this September. Honeymoon before the wedding? Two ceremonies? Well, seeing as Brian and Chiara will have seven years of friendship, four years of dating, and nearly three years of engagement under their belts prior to the wedding in Arizona, you could say their only tradition is being untraditional.

“We can’t wait to welcome you to Arizona and to have you by our sides as we take the most important step in our lives together. We love you all!” - Chiara and Brian