How it all began
Our story is a classic New York love story. Growing up in our respective home countries, neither of us could have imagined that we would fall in love in New York with someone from a distant land – but we did!
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Aleksandra was born and raised in Maków Mazowiecki, a town north of Warsaw. Growing up, she enjoyed spending summers by the lake, competing in ballroom dancing competitions, and listening to pop hits with her cousin Maciek. Soon after completing high school, her life took an unexpected turn when she and her parents moved to New York City. Aleksandra would eventually enroll at New York University and meet a fellow student named Santiago on her very first day… but we’ll get to that shortly!
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Santiago grew up in the Caribbean city of Cancún. Many of you may know Cancún as a vacation destination known for its year-round hot weather and white sand beaches. Growing up, Santiago enjoyed spending time by the beach, where he and his brother would play American Football for hours. For high school, Santiago took his studies to a preparatory school in Massachusetts and eventually made his way to the Big Apple and NYU. On the first day of his senior year, Santiago crossed paths with Aleksandra at a school event and this is where our story begins.
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Aleksandra claims that she does not remember much from meeting Santiago that day – hard to believe it, huh? However, Santiago’s first impression of Aleksandra stuck with him. Over the next few months, we would see each other at various NYU events. Each time, we would talk more and more until Santiago decided to invite Aleksandra to his birthday party. After getting to know each other outside of school, we started going out on dates. Some of our early dates included getting drinks at the Roxy Hotel, watching a movie at the Angelika Film Center, and strolling around the Met Museum.
The next few years were filled with memorable experiences: we met each other’s families, shared dishes from our home countries, explored new corners of the world together, and watched dozens of movies, Broadway shows, and operas. Eventually, we moved in together in New York City. On November 11, 2023, when the leaves were the most colorful, the air was the crispiest, and the sky the bluest, Santiago asked Aleksandra if she would marry him – and she said yes!