Our Story

In Feb 2020, I got a new intern at work and I (Razan) immediately thought he was cute and was interested in him, but I was unsure if he was younger than me since he was the intern.

After some questioning I learned we are the same age and we quickly became good friends, working together remotely through covid and then back in the office once things opened back up. We both liked each other but neither of us admitted it but we would stay at the office after everyone had left at work and just hang out and laugh and have the best time.

After 2 years of being friends Matt and I confessed our feelings for eachother and we were immediately inseparable. I didn't have to pretend to just be friends with him anymore despite being totally in love with him and neither did he.

We worked together for 2 more years, getting through our small marketing agency being sold to a big american corporation, which slowly caused the company we once loved to fall apart. In May 2024 we both quit the job that brought us together because it was time, we left a week apart for better opportunities. It was hard not spending every day together at work anymore but it allowed us to grow individually and we learned how valuable it was to have stories from different perspectives to tell from our own jobs. We still keep in touch with our old colleagues and like to reminisce on those days like they were high school.

Like any relationship, we had many challenges to get where we are today. The biggest one being we come from different cultural and religious backgrounds so I actually had to hide our relationship from my family for a long time until we were ready to get more serious. My family was not immediately supportive since he was different than they were used to and it took some careful navigating and compromising to get them on board. Many nights of tension and anxiety and long conversations but we made it happen and they love him now. It ultimately brought Matt and I closer to deal with all those difficulties.

Finally on November 16 2025 we were in Montreal to see Paul Mcartney in concert which we were already very excited about . We went a day early and Matt surprised me with booking this amazing boutique hotel in old montreal. We went to dinner that night and as we were walking back to the hotel it started snowing slowly, the street somehow cleared of people and Matt got on one knee and proposed. I was so surprised and excited and we were both very emotional knowing this would change everything for the better. It was the most magical moment of our lives. Right after he proposed suddenly there were people walking by again and things went back to normal. It was meant to happen at that moment

Here we are now 6 months into being fiance's and its been beautiful and we're finally starting to plan our wedding. We were really hoping to do an October wedding but had no luck finding any venues or availabilities for 2026. We are forced to push it to 2027 once again delyaing our ability to move in together and start our lives. Winning this content would absolutely change our lives, no exaggeration, everything would be so much better and the gratitude would be endless and forever.

When we saw this contest and that the date is october 2026 that really felt like fate to me. Like this is the last chance to get married when we truly wanted to. We absolutely love Carleton Place, Matt lives in Stittsville so we often visit the area and always enjoy it. We always talk about living in a small town once we have kids one day and I can really see us moving there since its so close to Ottawa but still a nice small town.

Thank you for reading our long messy story, there are many more details and ups and downs but this is the main summary. ❤️