They say love built on friendship lasts forever -- and ours has been sixteen years in the making.

Before anything else, we were just that: best friends. Though we grew up just minutes apart in the suburbs of Philadelphia, fate waited until high school to make its move; Ari transferred to Harriton High School and our two worlds finally collided. It didn't take long for Ari to blend right in with Cat's core group of friends through a shared love of sports, good food, and a few "virgin" strawberry daiquiris (IYKYK).

By senior year, we were inseparable -- training for soccer side by side, spending weekends with our favorite people, and celebrating our college acceptances to the University of Pittsburgh. Ari even scored an early win by joining the Dolan family trip to Vermont, officially earning the family seal of approval. Although they remained “just friends” at the time, Cat's family always saw Ari as something more.

When it came time to register for freshman classes, everything seemed perfectly aligned —until Cat got the call that she'd been accepted to her dream school, Boston College. Ari was devastated, but in true Cat fashion, she followed her heart, and Ari, to Pittsburgh. Turns out, she'd made the right call.

College in Pittsburgh was the start of another adventure for us -- same best friend, new city, slightly questionable dorm food, and a sudden shift from strawberry daiquiris to peach New Amsterdam. Between Cat's early mornings in Navy ROTC and Ari's new fraternity life, it would've been easy to drift apart, but somehow, we never did. We remained constants for each other -- studying together, partying together, and showing up for every high and low. Anyone who knew Ari knew Cat, and anyone who knew Cat knew Ari.

During freshman year, Ari finally confessed his feelings for Cat, but she couldn't risk losing her best friend, especially amid the chaos of college life. Year after year, Ari tried again, and year after year, Cat insisted he was "husband material" and that she wasn't ready for something that serious yet. Still, nothing changed between us. We remained inseparable. Cat never missed an excuse to watch Ari's spectacular dance moves at one of his frat parties, and Ari was Cat's date to every soccer formal and military ball.

"He picked me up outside my dorm in a tuxedo", Cat remembers, "and when we showed up to the Navy Ball, he outshone every man in uniform. That's when I knew my feelings for him were deeper than I was willing to admit."

After graduation, life took us in different directions. Cat headed to South America, while Ari moved to Arlington, Virginia to start his career. Before parting ways, Cat made one last weekend trip to D.C. -- a final hurrah before our longest stretch apart since high school. During that visit, something shifted. We both knew what we felt, but agreed it was time to grow on our own before finding our way back to each other.

Six months later, Cat surprised Ari by returning home early. We shared stories of her travels and his new life in Virginia. It was as if no time had passed -- only now, the timing was finally right. That spring, we took our first trip together to Puerto Rico -- a getaway that confirmed what everyone already knew: best friends had officially become soulmates. Even while living in different cities, Cat still in Pittsburgh and Ari in D.C., being together felt easy. When the world shut down during COVID, we saw it as the perfect excuse to finally be in the same place again: quarantining with family, sneaking in visits, and daydreaming about where life might take us next.

After a few months at home (and one very impulsive decision), we embarked on another adventure: a spontaneous move to West Palm Beach, Florida. Without ever having lived together, or knowing a single person there, it easily could have been chaos -- but instead, it was one of the best choices we ever made. We fell in love with the Florida sunshine, long walks by the beach, year-round golf, and the joy of simply building a life together.

Five years later, on a walk through Rolling Hill Park back home in Philadelphia, Ari got down on one knee and finally got the "yes" he had been waiting for since our freshman year of college. And Cat got one step closer to marrying that "husband material" guy who picked her up in a tuxedo at just eighteen years old.

At the end of the day, our story has always been about choosing each other -- again and again. Even when life took us in different directions, our friendship kept us connected, and no distance could pull us apart. Now, as we say "I do" at the historic Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, we'll be celebrating sixteen years of friendship, growth, and a love that truly stood the test of time -- surrounded by the people who have loved us (and called this fate) from the very beginning.

C&A