Wedding Date on Mar 17, 2018

Our love story is simple with intricate roots. In many ways we are opposites yet at our core we are eerily similar. On the surface and at the soul, we embrace the yin and yang, and we find a beautiful harmony and balance within each other. Exactly, three St. Patty's days ago, Buford and were enjoying a quite night at home when my Tinder app alerted me that we had "a new match." I had lived in Tampa for about 15 months, and was interested in meeting new people in the area (not for booty call reasons, rather someone who had similar interests and was fun to hangout with). I had dabbled with Tinder before, so I had a solid rule that if someone couldn’t intrigue me via a type-convo or hold my interest for a few weeks, I would never consider meeting them in person. After all, Buford was an amazing companion and cuddler, so if a human couldn’t bring their A game to the table, I was more than happy having my pug be the main squeeze in my life. However, after an evening of intense typing with “my match” (who went by the name of Adrian), I had to admit, he had peaked my interests. Simultaneously, Tinder was a new experience for Adrian, so he wasn’t really sure what to expect. Yet, he did find himself slightly curious by the inquisitive female he started typing to on the other side of the app. After a month of intensive yet childlike question and answer games, nightly types that lasted for hours, and digital conversation that spanned our deepest secrets to our fav memories we agreed to meet for one drink in public in real live person. Neither one of us will ever forget that night. I am EXTREMELY type A and punctual, Adrian is super laid back and easy-going. I showed up 15 minutes late (while I didn’t want to admit it, I was extremely intrigued by his personality and our conversations, so I just didn't want to be let down). Adrian who is usually late, showed up early and was equally eager to meet his typing friend as a big part of him thought he was being cat-fished. When we finally locked eyes on each other, it didn’t take more than a second to realize the person we had been so captivated by from our typing-discussions was a real, live human who looked identical to their pictures. That night was a blast for us both, one drink turned to many, typing transformed to talking, and we stayed out way past my self-imposed bedtime. That night ended with a hug, and that concreted that what we had was something real. Over time that hug graduated to a kiss, and eventually those kisses turned into PG13 movies and beyond, which was accompanied by our bond growing from a genuine friendship and blossoming into an unbelievable and unconditional love. Both Adrian and I have been through our fair share of unhealthy and rough relationships in the past, and what we found within each other is unlike anything else we have ever experienced. I have always wanted to believe, good things ultimately happen to good people, and discovering each other proved this theory true. We are happy, we are true to ourselves, Buford has the best dad ever (plus a four-legged sister named Gertrude), we are in love and loved, and we will always be grateful for a silly little app that connected two right-swippers to their perfect match. In regards to our magical wedding, we knew for a long time that our wedding would be 3/17/18, after all, it was exactly three years to the date that we first found each other (not to mention it ideally fell on a Saturday). I have been infatuated with palm trees since I was a young girl, and always envisioned my dream wedding being on the beach. Both Adrian and I are from the Midwest (shout out to his Spartans and my Packers), lived in the Northeast for a while, and migrated to Florida for work so we had no desire to say our “I do’s” in a cold climate like we grew up in. I have a sizeable obsession with the Caribbean islands, and they hold a special place in our hearts between Adrian’s 30th Birthday surprise in the DR, our various tropical trips with family and friends, and of course, our amazing Valentine’s day vacation to the Bahamas that ended in our engagement. While we knew a Florida wedding would be beautiful, we wanted our wedding adventure to truly embody us and give our family and friends the experience of a lifetime. I adore researching and planning tropical travels, but it wasn’t hard for us to pinpoint the perfect destination location for our wedding. We chose Sandals Montego Bay, as we had been there two years ago for vacation and simply fell in love with the staff, the resort, and the island. Also, we had people traveling from all over the United States, and we knew MoBay was fairly easy to get in and out of, regardless of where you are traveling from. While I did have some initial anxiety telling my father (who does NOT fly) that he couldn’t drive from Wisconsin to Jamaica, ultimately, we ended up with the wedding of our dreams! We never anticipated over 60 of our closest family and friends would make the journey to Jamaica, but they did. And while neither one of us is Irish or Jamaican, having our wedding on St. Patty’s day in Jamaica was the best destination location decision they could have changed. This was the first time Adrian and my families were meeting each other, and we had friends from all stages of our lives coming together to celebrate our special day. While I can be a bit of a control freak and overly detail-oriented, I could have not envisioned a more perfect and amazing adventure that represented us. From the catamaran cruise to the pre-celebration dinner, to the steel drum band bringing our family and friends from all walks of life together, to the remarkable vendors and staff we got to work with and make lifelong friendships with (and of course the Sandals MoBay pup Ralph who took a pic with us since Buford and Gertrude had to stay at home and watch the dog sitter), to the beautiful beach ceremony and unforgettable reception with our epic first dance and fire dancer finale – it was unforgettable, magical, and humbling. The only thing more incredible than our wedding experience, is the fact that we found each other in the first place and get to spend the rest of our days together, hand-in-hand, in love, as husband and wife.