Tommy & Emily grew up in Connecticut - Tommy in Stamford, and Emily in Westport. Just 25 minutes away. For all of their formative years, they went to the same shopping malls, the same movie theaters, rode the same trains into New York City. Emily is sure Tommy looked familiar on the night they first met - as if they’d passed each other so many times that he almost felt like an old friend.

They met in Los Angeles. Thousands of miles away from their stomping grounds on the East Coast. Their first date was at a bar-cade in Echo Park called Button Mash. They bonded over a shared love of retro video games, freaked out about how many of the same Connecticut things they used to do growing up, and discovered that they both actually love cold red wine in a can. They talked for hours without a single thought of X-Men, Ninja Turtles or Mortal Kombat. So they agreed that they should meet back at Button Mash again the next week and actually play some of those games they grew up loving so much. And so they did.

Four years later, Tommy proposed. In the exact spot they met. Under the blue and white fairy lights at Button Mash.

Photo taken moments before the proposal.

Button Mash, Echo Park LA, February 13th 2021