From the moment I met her, meeting up at a bar before our respective concerts, it was an instant connection. Our conversation was natural; it felt like we'd always known each other. A few hours of talking turn into a few hours more, and now I'm skipping the opener to my concert, just so I can keep talking to this incredible woman. Eventually, I walk her to her concert, and we go our separate ways for the night. But by the end of that night, I knew we had something special. Just a few days later, I'm being invited to play tennis in the park with her, and, while I did not own a single tennis racket at this time, I said yes faster than she probably could have put her phone down. I find someone selling their old tennis rackets and make my way over to another amazing date, full of tennis, good food, and even better conversation. By this point, I have forgone any subtlety with how amazing I think she is, and thankfully, she felt the same way about me.

Fast-forward, we are now several "firsts" in, from our first time meeting each other's friends/family, our first time saying "I love you", all the way to our first exposure to living together. Erin's apartment lost its power due to a snowstorm, and my apartment being built just a year or so prior, still had power. In this 600 SQ Ft studio apartment, we have Erin, me, and two cats that do not get along at all. To keep them separated, we fashion a makeshift barrier out of pillows, bar stools, and blankets, hoping that neither will do what cats do and try to scale it. A few days go by, and it's some of the best moments with Erin up to this point. By the end of this experience, I knew we could live together, and sure enough, we did not too long after.

Several milestones later, and we're now in a random Indian restaurant in Washington DC, feeling all kinds of excitement and love over the open acknowledgement of wanting to get married when the time was right. Sure enough, the time was right shortly after, and the ring shopping began! With the help of some thorough notes, I find the perfect design and gem that encapsulates all there is to love and appreciate about Erin. Months later, and I'm on one knee asking Erin to marry me on the top of a hill garden overlooking Florence, Italy. And now, almost 3 years into this amazing relationship, I cannot wait to celebrate such a significant milestone with our friends and family!

The day was May 21, 2023. I was getting ready to see Yves Tumor live in concert and to grab drinks with a guy that I had met online. He had told me that he also had a concert that same night, so we decided that a pre-concert first date could be fun. As a single 20-something-year-old dating in the city, I couldn’t have predicted that I’d be meeting the man that I’d be calling my husband 3 years later.

We shared about our love of food, travel, and the connection that we both had to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. One date turned into a second, which turned into a third, which turned into months and years of developing a deep love and friendship with each other. From scuba diving the reefs of Honduras to moving in with each other and acquainting our 2 highly anxious cats, life with Matthew has taught me the importance of true partnership, the work of love, and how to bask in the joy of building and sharing a life with another human.

The intention and care that Matt not only has for our relationship, but for all of the people in his orbit, is one of the many things that I love about him. He is kind, generous, patient, intuitive, funny, incredibly smart, a great cook, and did I mention HOT?! I struggle to find words that can describe my gratitude for the fact that we chose each other as life partners. He is my person y lo quiero mucho.

Erin and Matt will be combining their surnames, Wallace and Hochhaus, to create their new family name: Walhaus. This decision was made intentionally by the couple as a way to honor both familial lineages while creating a new name for themselves and those who'll come after. #WalhausWedding2026