Our story begins at Middlebury College in 2017….

Will was finishing the spring of his junior year. Rachel was approaching, as the Febs say, her “super senior year.” (If you are confused by that terminology, we encourage you to find one of the many other Midd kids at the wedding and ask them about it over a beverage of choice. They’ll be happy to oblige).

Both were a part of the Tavern social house, one of the last vestiges of Greek life on campus. At the time, neither of their social circles overlapped. After many stolen glances across the Tavern common room during house meetings, a mutual friend was kind enough to organize hang-outs at Middlebury’s Organic Garden, where the two first got to spend time together.

As the spring semester at Middlebury wrapped up, the two kept in touch. Will enjoyed spending time with his new “special friend” so much that he decided it would be a good idea to invite himself out to her family home in Montauk for her birthday. Somehow, Rachel accepted. After Will didn’t transfer in Jamaica and got trapped in Speonk for 3 hours (there is still much debate in the family as to whose fault this was), Rachel picked Will up at the Montauk train station with a sandwich and beer in hand (the way to Will’s heart), and their romance blossomed from there.

Will had so much fun sleeping on the living room floor of Rachel’s parents’ house with four other people he didn’t know, that the following weekend he booked a visit to see Rachel again in DC. After a weekend romping around museums, kayaking on the Potomac, and picnicking on the National Mall, they were smitten.

The following fall back at Middlebury, Rachel and Will spent almost every waking moment together (Rachel literally moved into Will’s Atwater suite and became the suite’s fifth roommate). When Rachel’s February graduation rolled around, the two decided to put their short relationship to the test and keep it going long distance, while Will finished his last semester at Middlebury. Rachel moved down to DC to do an internship on Capitol Hill for a few months while applying to jobs. When she got two competing offers (one that would have kept her in DC and one that would have her move to Boston where Will had secured his own post-grad job), naturally she packed up her things and moved up to Boston.

Each moved in with friends in tiny apartments in the North End, and over the next year, Rachel and Will ate a lot of Italian food, took the train out to the beach in Gloucester, and explored the historic city.

In 2019, Rachel and Will embarked on their first significant international journey, flying to Israel to visit Rachel’s brother who was studying abroad. Their adventure took a thrilling turn as they ventured through the rugged landscape of northern Israel on what the Internet said would be a “modest hike.” The trail they ended up on turned out to be completely unmarked, and with only their backpacks and zero cell phone service, they navigated through brush and over rocky terrain, occasionally pausing at warning signs cautioning against unexploded ordinance. Resolve was tested (and faith that this hike was a good idea) when they ran out of water in scorching heat with dwindling supplies. The challenges didn’t end there; aggressive cows occasionally blocked their path, standing defiantly and forcing Rachel, Will and Michael to find extensive detours around them. 

In the fall of 2019, a new job took Rachel back to DC while Will remained in Boston. They became VERY familiar with stalking airline ticket prices for monthly visits. A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic made it possible for Will to relocate to DC, and the two made the adult decision to move in together in the fall of 2020.

Over the next three years, their relationship only strengthened, enduring graduate school in different cities (long-distance again), the growing pains of their early careers taking off, and living in a DC row house who’s basement flooded 4 times with doo-doo water (ask us about putting the couch on paint cans).

In the summer of 2023, they celebrated six years together, and Will knew it was time to pop the question. On a birthday trip up to Montauk, while Rachel was preoccupied drinking rosè and playing endless hours of Zelda on her Switch, Will went upstairs and told Jen and Rich of his plans. Their upcoming trip to Italy, the first time they would be going to Europe together, was the perfect setting

Ring in hand (passed down from Rachel’s mom), Will spent the next two months sweating bullets making sure the ring did not get discovered hiding in his watch drawer or lost on an international flight to Rome. Rachel was clueless. They spent the first week in Italy drinking and eating their way through Rome and Florence, the ring burning a hole in Will’s pocket. On their first night in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast, at their hotel overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius, Will ordered a bottle of crisp white (Rachel’s favorite) and they sat in an olive grove enjoying the sunset.

As they both sat on a bench admiring the view, Will turned to Rach and popped the question. She (of course!) said yes, and they both became part of Middlebury’s treasured statistic that more than 60% of Midd kids end up marrying another Midd kid.

Can’t wait to meet you in Montauk to celebrate!