Jack & Zotti's Birthday Proposal

How did you two meet?

It is a cute story really. When I (Jack) was in my fourth year at University, Zotti was in his first and I had picked a 1st-year class as an elective. Coincidently we were in the same class, but being the fourth year, I was too cool to sit with the first years, so we never officially met. But I definitely thought he was cute.

On Tuesday nights in Bathurst, the Kings hotel hosted a thing called Cheeky Tuesdays. A bar night, with great music, chilled vibes, and a huge outdoor dance floor. Each week Cheeky's gave away a small bar tab, for someone who had shared the weekly poster. This particular Tuesday, Zot had won the bar tab and I had told a friend that I thought he was hot! Mieke the matchmaker works her magic and next thing, the cute first year is buying this not-so-cool fourth year a drink. We talked, danced and shared a sneaky kiss on the dance floor. The rest, well, it's history. 

One year after this fateful Tuesday, Zotti and I ran Cheeky Tuesdays together, Zot on Music and Poster Art and me, well I was the Event Manager and ran the Cheeky Collective, a club of students who helped with the events. A power couple since day one.

Where was your first date?

I can't really remember our first date but I do remember lying in bed, side by side and staring at the ceiling, talking about life, our pasts, our futures and everything else. Those are my earliest memories. Zotti, how did you propose?

It was a month before my 26th birthday when Jack and I applied for "The Block" and part of the application had a section where we needed to write about each other. Before sending it off, I was reading through his answers and the way he wrote about me, IDK, something clicked, I was like, yeah, I think I really love this guy. So I started planning.

I always knew I didn't want to do a sit down or something too gimmicky and I knew Jack would want to be around his friends and family and the only event coming up was my birthday. So I worked closely with Tania to make it all happen in record timing and to be honest, from the jump I just knew she was the perfect person for the job, her energy just felt right.

Flash forward to my birthday, I gathered everyone around saying I would be making a toast, I gave everyone a shout out and then said "there is one more special person I would like to shout out", I poured my heart out in a little speech, dropped down on one knee and popped the big Q, "would you marry" and I guess the rest is history. 

Who was at the proposal and what did you love most about the special moment? 

Our best and closest friends. I think the thing we loved most was that we made everyone dress monochromatically and it turned into a big rainbow, a little nod to the LGBTQAI+ culture. It was really special.Jack and Zotti's Men's Long Signet with engraving

Jack, what do you love most about your ring? 

The rings are beautiful, timeless and so much more special because Zotti got us both one. Something more that we get to share as we continue to grow together. And engraved on the inside with "Jack & Zotti" a beautiful reminder of the amazing night he asked me to marry him.

Growing up together has been a wild ride, at times challenging, but overall pretty amazing. We have learned a lot about ourselves, each other and the world around us and we are really excited to keep doing this together.

Our careers are really kicking off, we believe in what we do and are so proud to see the other succeed. We are constantly surrounded by great people like our beautiful friends at our engagement, our families and we hope to keep these positive vibes and new ones around us as we work out what next. With our main focus to be that (our life ahead) is something that makes us not only smile but is full of passion and pride with a lot of laughs along the way.