Highland Park & Aspinwall Fall Engagement

Andrew and Emma both moved to Pittsburgh for school, Andrew for graduate school in 2020 and Emma for undergraduate in 2021. We attended the same church the whole time, but didn’t meet until 2024. We first met at lunch after church, where we connected immediately as we realized that Emma had visited CERN, the site of Andrew’s experiment in Switzerland, as a teenager with her mom.

We ended up connecting again in January 2025 when our church started an official young adult fellowship group. We ended up talking instead of playing Bananagrams, and Emma told Andrew about where her family is from in Denmark. To her surprise, Andrew recognized the small city Emma’s family was from. Andrew asked Emma for her number over a pizza box as we were packing up the leftovers.

After texting a lot over the next few weeks, Andrew asked Emma out on a coffee date at Tazza d’Oro in Highland Park. It snowed the night before, and Andrew ended up having to walk half the journey because the bus got stuck. One date turned into several, and Andrew asked Emma to be his girlfriend in March.

Over the next few months, we had so much fun getting to know one another and learning how much we had in common. We learned that we both try to drive the speed limit and to not jaywalk. We also both love geography and learning about the world, and we’re very similar in the ways we approach our faith and the lives we want to live.

We have so many great memories together. We went to Fallingwater together, tried many fun restaurants and coffee shops in Pittsburgh, and travelled to see each other’s families. For Thanksgiving, we went to Andrew’s parents’ house in Philadelphia. In March 2026, we flew to Denmark to visit Emma’s family; the whole process of international travel was so fun and meaningful to share.

After talking about life and the future for several months, we agreed that we both wanted to marry. Once Andrew knew what Emma wanted in a ring, he kept the specifics and the timing as a surprise. On May 31 of this year, Andrew proposed to her in Highland Park, where we have gone for walks and had picnics throughout our relationship. Emma of course said yes, and Andrew had planned a surprise engagement party with family and friends. He secretly invited both his parents and her cousin from out of town, and her mom and friends were also sneakily involved.

We decided to do our engagement photos in Highland Park due to its meaningfulness to us and our relationship. We are so excited to get married in April and to celebrate with our