It was the first day of film school, and as a social exercise, the teacher asked the class what their favourite movie was. Everyone had their chance to speak until finally, Andy answered Rocky. For whatever reason, the tall boy with green hazel eyes and a backwards hat, seated in the front row, turned around and met her stare. In that moment, something clicked into place.

 

Within a month, their friendship blossomed into something meaningful, and they found each other on an accidental first date. You see, they went to see the VIFF screening of Whiplash at the Playhouse Theatre, and when they came out, Andy said she was hungry.  So naturally, Mike suggested the White Spot across the street. They sat down in a booth by the window, the waiter took their orders, and then it went eerily quiet.

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“Wait, is this a date?”  She asked. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Mike answered. 

“Are you nervous?” She asked.

“No…are you?” He said nervously.

“No, of course not.” She lied.

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Moments later, their food arrived. Mike ordered a salad, and Andy ordered a whole stack of ribs. It should be noted that since that day, Mike has never ordered a salad again, and Andy was indeed so nervous that she didn't realize she'd order something she had to eat with her hands - but she has since ordered many, many ribs in front of Mike.

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A couple of weeks later, they made their relationship official on October 11th, 2014, with pizza and beer after a long day on a film set. A date idea that would soon become a tradition—or a coping mechanism for working in film —for many years to come. 

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In 2015, Andy met Mike’s family and won them over with her wit and humour. Soon after, Mike met Andy’s family, but before he won them over with his good looks and charm, he showed up at the wrong “Cactus Club by the water” because Andy didn’t realize that there were, in fact, two “Cactus Clubs by the water”. 

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When they graduated in 2017, they moved into an apartment on The Drive, with a pastel pink stove and noisy neighbours. They worked on set with their closest friends, and on their days off, they watched movies, swam at the lake, hung out at bar patios and talked about one day having a dog.

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The following year, Mike went to Colombia with Andy’s family and discovered that all the crazy stories were, in fact, very real. He met her extended family, held up his own at a game of Tejo and survived a day in the Park Tairona with no sunscreen and no Spanish. 

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In 2019, they started a production company with the same closest friends and began making short films. When the pandemic hit, Andy discovered many hobbies… and Mike realized he had a lot of patience. At night, they often talked about what it would be like to have a dog in their “no pets allowed” apartment. They imagined she’d be an English bulldog, and she’d enjoy lying between them in bed, softly snoring or playing with a toy.

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In September of 2021, Andy convinced ( though Mike would say, bullied) their landlord into letting them have a pet in their apartment. A few weeks later, through a wonderful friend, they found their third family member – Lola. Who does, in fact, sleep between them in bed but snores so loud they fear never resting properly again.

 

In 2025, Mike fulfilled one of Andy's dreams and took her to Paris. She was so busy enjoying her whole itinerary of sightseeing, taking in the history and consuming all the cheese that didn’t hurt her stomach, that she didn’t notice Mike’s secret. On their last night, under the glow of the Eiffel Tower’s lights, Mike got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She was speechless, but she held on to those green hazel eyes as she nodded and grinned with excitement.

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Thank you for reading our story. We can’t wait to celebrate our wedding with you <3