But I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Austin when I realized that he simultaneously supports my dreams and helps me recognize and tackle the realities of life that might prevent me from achieving those dreams.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Early on, we discovered a mutual enjoyment of good food and new experiences. So over our nearly decade long relationship, we’ve kindled a deep sense of adventure through unforgettable experiences in places both near and far, involving delicious food and drink and truly wonderful people. We hope to keep that adventurous spirit burning for decades through our love of travel and food.
When we’re not travelling or trying a new restaurant, we love to make coffee, go skiing together, and cuddle with our two French Bulldogs, Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Austin is also a runner and has raced in 17 marathons, his most recent being the 2024 Boston Marathon.
For work, Austin is a Biostatistician for a medical device company, and Scott helps develop automation for hospital systems to streamline the insurance billing process. But maybe one day, we’ll run a small boutique hotel or local coffee shop.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met on Tinder in February of 2016, true to Millennial form. After a couple of weeks of spurring conversation, we decided to have our first date at Deschutes Brewery in Portland, Oregon, near where we both lived.
(Scott) I don’t recall Tinder listing height at the time, so I was a little surprised to see how tall Austin was on our first date. But more importantly, I loved seeing his face light up when we first saw each other when we met for dates. It made me feel seen and safe.
(Austin) I had arrived early and so I read on my phone while I waited for Scott to arrive (again, true to Millennial form). When Scott arrived, he caught me off-guard because I had been completely distracted by whatever I was reading. But he also had this aura of kindness, and I got this feeling that there was something special about him.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
(Scott) I’m a bit of a dreamer. I love to think about how things could be and what our future could look like. I can also get carried away by those dreams. But I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Austin when I realized that he simultaneously supports my dreams and helps me recognize and tackle the realities of life that might prevent me from achieving those dreams. He keeps me grounded when I need to be, but I know he’ll always support me.
(Austin) Scott has a big heart and a knack for making anyone he meets feel at ease. Because of that, it felt like he fit into my world with my friends so well. More importantly, he made me feel safe and at ease (and still does so), and supported me in my endeavors even though he did not share those same goals.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
We decided against an official proposal. Neither of us felt strongly about proposing or being proposed to. At that point, we had been together for 6 years, had 3 dogs and lived in 2 houses together. It just felt right to get married, so we settled in September 2023 and shared the decision with our families.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
We splurged on the hotel room for the week leading up to the wedding. It turned out to be the perfect oasis in between the final wedding preparations and events with our loved ones. To be honest, the whole wedding felt like a splurge, too, even though we didn’t necessarily splurge on other elements. We were just blown away by the quality of the food, venue, etc. They exceeded our wildest expectations. And above all, we have zero regrets about bringing our photographers, Juliette and Liz, from Seattle all the way to Italy. They captured our wedding in the most perfect ways, and that decision was absolutely worth every penny!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
We didn’t exactly practice the ceremony much, so we walked down the aisle together before everyone was ready to throw rice and flowers. But we all laughed later and realized the ceremony was very much us. Who cares if we didn’t get that part right?

In addition to that, our entire dinner had to be moved inside because of rain. We don’t necessarily laugh about it in hindsight, but that’s because the venue did a simply marvellous job of making that as seamless as possible. It was stressful, of course, but we don’t know how they pulled that off so perfectly. It’s as if we had always planned on having the dinner inside.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Scott had heard about Suit Supply and how they could do custom made suits. We knew that we wanted linen suits (to fit the Mediterranean aesthetic) and suits that we would be able to wear again. With Suit Supply’s help, we were able to pick out fantastic suits that fit so well. Additionally, we were able to have the suits monogrammed with our names and our wedding dates.
LOCATION Paradise Alcantara Ristorante, Graniti, Italy, @paradisealcantara PHOTOGRAPHY J & L Photography, @jandlphotography PLANNER Wedding in Sicily Taormina, @weddinginsicilytaormina FLORIST Petali e Capricci Weddings, @petaliecapricciweddings OFFICIANT Carmelo Lo Monte (Mayor of Graniti) ENTERTAINMENT DJ – Domenico Arcidiacono DJ, @domedj CATERING Paradise Alcantara, @paradisealcantara RINGS Valerie Madison Fine Jewelry, @valeriemadisonjewelry SUITS Suit Supply, @suitsupply SHOES Blake McKay, @blakemckay_; Johnston & Murphy, @johnstonmurphy ACCESSORIES Watch – Citizen, @citizenwatchus; Skagen, @skagendenmark HAIR Bellezza & Benessere
