Sy-Yu Chen (aka "issey", aka "see you later", aka "stumps") is the daughter of Shu-Feng Liang and Shyh-Ming Chen, and sister to Ching Chen.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Sy-yu moved to the US with her family at a young age. Having later moved cross country from California, to Mississippi, and finally to Maryland - she is glad to call Rockville, Maryland her hometown!
Sy-yu enjoys trying new and exciting places to eat, taking pictures of the restaurant's food, and describing said food in detailed Yelp! reviews. Her other passions include traveling, hiking, taking spin classes, walking around to get more fitbit steps, catching Pokemon, and researching fantasy football. Thanks to her jet-setting parents, she has now been to 45+ states in the US.
Sy-yu currently works in Financial Reporting at Citigroup in New York City.
Anthony (Tony) Shen (aka "Blackbolt" aka "Tbone Malone" aka "Two-date Tony") is the son of Po-Ching and Yi-Shang Shen, and brother to Andrew and Jessica Shen.
Born and raised in Potomac, Anthony grew up loving the redskins until they cut RGIII (because like, Kirk Cousins is kind of like Donald Trump if you think about it).
Besides that minor setback, Anthony also finds joy in watching videos on his phone, looking at cat memes, losing at fantasy football, eating Korean BBQ, and taking 4-hour afternoon naps.
Anthony is currently an MBA student at Yale.
Sy-yu and Anthony met when they were 19 at the University of Maryland. At a fraternity and sorority mixer, Anthony saw the most angelic woman he had ever seen in his life, and knew he had to find some way to talk to her. He asked a mutual friend to set them up, but the friend plainly told him that Sy-Yu was simply out of his league. Undeterred, and in need of a date to a fraternity formal, he asked Sy-yu out anyways! What a boss. They bonded over many intellectual discussions about Harry Potter and the show LOST. Following the formal and after many chipotle meals + steak dinners, they became official and have been together happily ever since!
After Anthony's graduation from UMD he moved to Bethesda, MD and one year later Sy-yu graduated and followed.
Since then, Sy-yu has moved to New York City and has lived there for over three years. Anthony is at Yale University in New Haven, CT getting his MBA. Even with the long distance for over 3 years, they have remained close and are excited for all of the future adventures to come!
By the time Sy-yu and Anthony tie the knot, it will be close to their 10 year anniversary! It's been one amazing journey and they are so excited to start the next chapter of their lives together.
On a cloudy August morning in San Francisco, Anthony asked Sy-Yu to marry him.
Anthony's plan was to take Sy-yu to Baker's Beach, SF hoping to capture the picturesque backdrop of the sun rising above the Golden Gate bridge when he proposed. Sy-Yu was surprised and annoyed when Anthony asked her to wake up so early in the morning, especially since Anthony never wakes up before 10AM on a weekend and always spends the first 30-45 minutes watching WorldStarHipHop and YouTube videos on his phone. Her annoyance turned to concern when Anthony started sweating and breathing in deep heavy breaths while driving to the beach. In between breaths, Anthony assured her he was alright, and was just nervous because the roads in SF were so hilly and he did not get insurance on the rental car.
When they got to the beach, Anthony and Sy-Yu were dismayed to see heavy fog obscuring the beautiful view of the Bay, with Anthony letting out an audible
"Ahhhhh shieeeeeeeeeeeeet."
After a short stroll on the beach towards the bridge, he weakly turned to Sy-Yu and asked, "Uh...it's pretty nice and romantic out here right?" Having put two and two together, Sy-Yu turned back and said, "Hmmm... yeah...uh..not really...." Anthony, disheartened but forever optimistic, waited ten minutes to see the sunrise, which unfortunately never came, before getting down on one knee to ask Sy-Yu to marry him. She gracefully said yes.
The happily engaged couple celebrated by taking a boat ride around the Bay, tasting wine in Napa and Sonoma, and meeting with friends. Anthony later planned a surprise engagement party in New York and got 40 of their friends from around the US together to celebrate the newly engaged couple.
Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the occasion!