As with most great love stories, it started with a broken knee. During a BCG training trip in Berlin, we beelined to make friends with folks from Spain and South America to ensure a night of dancing and fun. On the way to a salsa club, Michael tragically fell out of a shopping cart (allegedly pushed by Anne and dangerously close to a light pole) and broke his right knee. Out of the goodness of her heart, Anne got him back to Denmark, straight to the hospital, and safely home again. (You may want to ask Michael for his side of the story at some point, but I'm pretty sure that's how it went)

From there, we retained professional colleague status for many months, but didn't miss many opportunities to stop for a chat around the office or at Friday bars. Over time, chats became longer, sometimes outside of work, sometimes over dinner or little weekend trips to Paris, Oslo, or Pisa. On May 4, 2023, one year after the great knee break of Berlin, we officially started dating.

Three months later, we bought a summerhouse together. We recognize how utterly insane that sounds (both of our parents also gently pointed that out). There was something magic about the Red House in Gilleleje, though, that gave us the confidence to make the jump. For Anne, it had a lot to do with getting back to her small town roots by having a peaceful place outside the city to unplug, read, garden, and swim each morning. Michael is originally from Gilleleje, so he was getting back to his roots in an even bigger way; Red House is the home to his three kids (Anna, Oskar, and Alexander), as well as his parents Bjarne and Janne.

After buying the house in August, we had seven months to wait until the previous owner moved out, and didn't waste a single moment. Anne finally got to meet and fall in love with Michael's kids, we completely renovated Michael's apartment, moved in together, got a cat, traveled to a few more countries, and Anne switched jobs. It was a complete whirlwind, with lots of late nights, arguments, laughs, and the development of at least three all-time favorite recipes.

When we finally got the keys to Red House in March, it inadvertently sealed the deal. While we knew how much having that 'home base' meant to us individually, what we perhaps underestimated is just how tightly it would bind us together. Red House has now hosted Thursday night dinners and weekends with the kids, birthday parties, dinners with Bjarne and Janne, visits from Anne's family, gatherings with friends, quiet moments alone and less quiet backgammon showdowns. It's been lovingly improved by numerous projects with the help of loved ones from all over the world. One day, we both looked up and realized that we've built a pretty incredible dream life together, and with you all.

The only thing left to do was to make it official...

We are so proud of how far we've come together, and so grateful to each of you for being an important part of our story. Please join us in person or in spirit on August 30 in our favorite place in the world, as we become husband and wife* as well as stepmom.

*If and only if Anne can figure out how to say the vows in Danish