Long before the dog-filled home they share, the sunset proposal and the wedding celebration that’s bringing us together this fine September, there was a truly terrible job.

Karli had gone through a breakup and was ready to leave Minneapolis to be closer to her sister in the Mile High City. She didn’t need a dream job, just a paycheck and a place to land. Chris had gone through a breakup and was moving, too—to the big, buzzing city south of his hometown in Fort Collins. He also needed a job, and that’s how Chris and Karli met one December day in downtown Denver.

The truly terrible job started with an equally awful orientation so cringe that Karli couldn’t help but let out a stifled giggle, and the tall guy with jet black hair next to her took note. It was that honest, earnest and always well-earned laugh of hers that sliced through his spiraling thoughts about just how big of a mistake taking this job had been.

You see, as anyone with anxious thoughts knows, cutting through them is anything but easy. When you find something that does, that thing is something is special. Chris knew Karli was exactly that—special. He had to be friends with the pretty girl with the lovely laugh, so he smiled and struck up conversation in the hallway during the break that followed shortly after. He asked her to lunch and, from the rooftop of Tamayo on that first day of work, Karli and Chris bonded over chips, salsa, and dismay. The good thing about bad jobs, though, is that they have a special way of bringing people together.

Their day-one day date became a frequent lunchtime occurrence during which Karli and Chris would gab and gossip about coworkers, bosses, and life. It was this way—slowly and surely, easily and organically—that the effortless affection that underlies their connection was set. Months of friendship turned into years of dating during which their friendship blossomed into the lasting love it is today.

They went on seafood-filled dinner dates at Salt Water Social. Karli became Chris’s rock, the person who brings an easy but never irreverent lightness to life. They went camping, fishing, and paddle boarding. Chris became a dog dad to Tre, the black lab love of Karli’s life, and soon her primary source of entertainment, too, thanks to Chris’s endlessly colorful antics. They fostered dogs and moved in together, first in Denver and then into a home of their very own in Centennial. They traveled around the country to see comedy shows and to the Florida Keys to enjoy island life and the multitudinous marine life that call their waters home.

It was there, on a white sand beach under a sunset sky streaked with cotton candy clouds, that Chris got down on one knee. He asked Karli to marry him with a ring that he and her sisters lovingly selected, a timeless beauty that reflects the love they share. Karli smiled, said yes, and, of course, let out one of her signature giggles, and here we are—coming together to celebrate a love that has a truly terrible job to thank for the spark that brought it to life.

Here’s to bad jobs—cheers.