When love is meant to be, not even the coldest of Chicago’s Januarys is going to get in the way. Four days of chatting on Bumble led to Michael and Chad’s first date in 2018, barely days after Chad had moved to the Windy City. The two met at Gilt Bar, an appropriately cozy spot, and “we kinda hit it off, saw each other a few days later and have been hanging out together pretty much every day since,” Michael shared.

Despite having moved to Washington D.C. together, Chicago remained a special place for the couple. So special it was where the two got engaged on their third anniversary in February 2021. “I proposed to Chad by ourselves in a private room in Soho House.” Though Chad had idea that the proposal was coming, the real surprise came when the two made their way back to Gilt Bar to celebrate and find a surprise engagement party with 55 of their nearest and dearest.

When it came time to planning their wedding, Michael and Chad took a very deliberate approach. Michael explained, “we got engaged to be married, not to have a wedding,” so it was less about finding picking a date and working around it, versus finding the places, people and experiences that would help them make their wedding come to life. One being their wedding website.

After considering all the options for their wedding site, the two opted for Riley & Grey. Riley & Grey is a design-minded wedding website service that meets the design and functionality expectations of everyday life. “Its aesthetic felt so custom, without requiring me to be a programmer,” Michael explained. “I appreciated that we could customize our URL and have the site password protected.” Further, Riley & Grey made it easy for them to design a site that was entirely their own aesthetic. As the company says about itself, they are there to make it easy for you to “do you!”

Part of ‘doing you’ for Chad and Michael is to have a family. “Our dream is to become parents, and becoming gay parents is not cheap,” the two shared. Which is why they registered for contributions to their IVF fund. Riley & Grey made this convenient and seamless for Chad and Michael’s guests not sending them to 3rd-party sites and allowing guests to cover processing fees. “We didn’t find another site that allowed for a cash fund,” Michael added.

Another feature the two highlighted was managing RSVPs. “We had a QR code included in our invitation which took our guests directly to our page. All I had to do was upload our list and they took care of the rest. Our guests logged in, found their name, selected each of our events, let us know if they were coming, what they might want to eat, and even what their favorite songs were. And then all we had to do was export the final Excel spreadsheet and sent it to the venue and we were done!”

Perhaps best of all, was Riley & Grey’s customer service. “I emailed them with a question and 5-minutes later I had a response and dealt with that person throughout our planning process,” Michael extolled. “Oh! And it was all really well-priced!”

From the colder climes of Chicago, the two headed south and warm, selecting Miami to host to their wedding. “We fall in love with each other again every time we are at the beach,” Michael explained. And because the two are passionate about food, they first chose their caterer, Bill Hansen Catering. And it is through Bill that the two landed on Villa Woodbine for their venue. Its ‘classical-Old-Miami-villa-personal-home-vibes’ made for the perfect backdrop to their White Lotus-inspired wedding, but “no one was murdered!” And so, on January 13th of this year, the two tied the knot. “Our first dance was in an enchanted courtyard. The whole thing felt like a bit of a dream.”

The two continue to bask in the post-wedding glow, but with the support of friends, family and Riley & Grey, their next dream come true will be when Michael and Chad become dads.