How it all began
Our Story
When Ran and Mark matched in early 2022, neither of them was in a rush, which turned out to be exactly the right speed.
They took their time, getting to know each other gradually as friends, neither quite ready to dive into a relationship just yet. Along the way they discovered they had more in common than their app's algorithm had bargained for, including the small-world revelation that their professional circles overlapped through former colleagues. Slowly, a friendship became something more. Two self-proclaimed workaholics who somehow found time for each other between back-to-back meetings, they built something real over shared adventures, supporting each other through understanding far too much about each other's work-life, a mutual love of their beloved pets, a naively idealistic view of doing things right, and the patience to root cause everything down to the source.
Together they've chased sunsets at Coachella, explored snowy mountains and hot summers of Japan, ate the spiciest of hot pots in Szechuan, attended enough destination weddings to be inspired to host their own, and posed (very seriously) with No-Face at a Studio Ghibli exhibit. There's always somewhere new on the list, and it's always better together.
The proposal came quietly, on a Bodega Bay weekend, with the whole family in attendance.
Mark packed up Ran, Kona their dog, and Dafu their cat (who had strong opinions about the car ride), and drove up the coast to a bay-side rental. With the water outside and their two animals providing a suitably opinionated audience, he asked. No crowd, no fanfare. Just the four of them, a view of the bay, and a yes.
Now they're taking the slightly larger crew (the human members, at least) to Bali to celebrate with everyone they love. September 12, 2026. We hope you'll be there.
