Hello! My name is Josh, this is my partner, Mark. We are getting married in April! Our funding has been a little low, and we thought to ourselves 'Instead of accepting wedding gifts, why not just start a go fund me to help pay for the wedding??' We don't normally do this but we were given the idea by my best man.

A little about ourselves. Mark and I met 4 years ago, on tinder of all places, and we chatted for a few weeks. I told Mark I wanted to move, and have a new change. He offered me to move to Oregon with him since he got offered a job out there. I thought, 'this guy is crazy!' and we just stayed as friends. I moved to Bakersfield, against my better judgement, and lived there for two and a half years. We talked off and on and kept in touch, he moved back to Los Angeles with his family and I was miserable due to a crazy roommate.

One day, I had enough of the craziness of my roommate, and Mark reached out to help me move. We looked everywhere in LA to move, and I was running out of time, till one day my family wanted me to move back home since it was unsafe where I was living. Mark was not hesitant to help me still. New Years Eve, Mark came to help me move and clean up my part of the apartment, and this would be the first time we met in person. I over slept, bed head and morning breath, and the first words I told him in person were "Wow you're tall!" We spent the evening together packing and drinking apple cider as we counted to midnight, and the next day my family came to help me finish up the packing and loading the truck.

The entire time we were packing and cleaning, my mom kept asking me "is he your boyfriend?" till finally she asked "Mark, are you coming home with us??" So I can say mom sort of pushed us together. This guy was going to drive 3 hours north, then 5 hours south to LA in one day, so yes: he IS crazy. I told him that I would get him a hotel and stay with him so that way he can rest at least. That night, he confessed he still had feelings for me and asked me to be his boyfriend and I said yes.

Eleven months later, we go to the Christmas tree lighting on Cannery Row, Monterey, and take pictures with my family. He was reluctant to go to the beach, but I thought it was insane to go at night and he had work in the early morning. I drive us home and he hugs me and says that he had something important to ask me which I assured he was free to talk to me about anything. I start making the bed and I turn around to find him on one knee. I ask "wait, what are you doing??" "Joshua Ray Montez, I can't wait any longer. I want to be with you. Will you marry me?" My only response was "Are you sure," as I sobbed struggling with the words. Of course, as crazy as he is, I said yes.

If you've read this far, I applaud you (lol).

It has been over a year now being engaged, and with politics and stressors with life lately, we know we should stick with our original date. April 11th 2025. $2000 is a goal, but we are grateful for all donations given. Thank you so much for your time and help!

-Josh and Mark