On January 6th of this year (2024 if you end up reading this in 78 years from now) I received my first inquiry of the year from K + J. Two beautiful, beautiful human beings, who after meeting at a Christmas party 8 years ago, could not stop thinking of one another. She's a lovely ray of light from Sacramento. He's a warm, joyous irishman living in London England. And with an entire country and ocean between them, they decided to lean in fully and take on a long distance relationship. It wasn't until recently that the two decided they'd had enough, and were ready to never spend another day apart.
The day after I received their inquiry, we had solidified our time together. And on January 13th, the same date everyone in the immediate Portland Metro area was highly encouraged to stay off the roads and indoors due to an incoming ice storm, I found myself in the living room of a quant little airbnb, with K, J, their immediate family, a cutout of J's children who weren't able to make it from Ireland, and a laptop screen with about 15 other family members who weren't able to attend from Ireland. And though there were a lot of faces missing from this day, you wouldn't know it from how much love poured into these two from both near, and far.
This entire group of individuals brought me in as one of their own. We ate together in this living room as we watched the storm roll through outside. Clinked glasses and drank together in this living room. Laughed in this room. Cried in this room. We made something small and sporadic feel full and whole, on the coldest day of the year. What I hope you, as the reader, take away from this all, is that you can make your wedding day whatever you want it to be. There are no rules.
No boarders to stay within.
Make it you.
