We met at the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office while getting our concealed carry licenses. Besides the circumstance, our favorite part of our meeting story is how Linden's face lit up when Alicia recognized his name as a type of tree. A couple of days later we went on our first date at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, had lunch, and planted a tree together (yes you read that right). Things have been nothing but smiles since!

We went to the Laurel Highlands for a spa weekend and Linden planned it beautifully. After a couples massage through Oak Lodge on Friday, July 28th we went on a hike through old growth hemlocks (Alicia's favorite tree) in Laurel Hill State Park (Alicia's favorite park). While Alicia & Linden were admiring a particularly large gorgeous hemlock Linden popped the question, and it was such an easy YES! The next day, Saturday, July 29th, Alicia & Linden explored around Ligonier followed by an awesome hike in the rain at Linn Run State Park. We ended the evening with the most magical surprise dinner at Tree Tops Restaurant. We had our own personal dining space in a little hut among the tree tops surrounded by nature and the sound of acoustic guitar. Words cannot describe how special and emotional that dinner was. It is certainly something we will never forget. Alicia is so thankful for how much work and thought Linden put into the engagement weekend and there was so much happy emotion from both of us. Head to the gallery page to see photos from the engagement weekend!

Our wedding day was on THE PERFECT fall day in the Laurel Highlands. Crisp breeze, fall colors beginning, blue skies and sun shining - we couldn't have asked for better weather! Our ceremony was in the forest in Laurel Hill State Park. We hiked back to the Jones Mill Run Dam and had an intimate ceremony with our parents and siblings . It was so perfectly us. As our officiant Paul said, it was our cathedral for the day. After the ceremony we hiked back to get photos among the Old Growth Hemlocks - a very special place that just oozes PA forest beauty. We are so happy with how our wedding day went - it was so genuinely us and is certainly a day we will never forget.

Our reception day was on yet another beautiful fall day (how did we get so lucky?). We celebrated with family and friends at The Grand Concourse - a beautiful venue with classic Pittsburgh views! We made our entrance down the Grand Staircase to a quartet playing Sabbra Cadabra and not only was it is a lot of fun, but it was so special. Top it off with delicious food, fall flower arrangements, scrumptious cake & cookies, and THE BEST company and we had the most loving wedding celebration. Thank you for all that came - we truly have never felt so much love at one time!

For our honeymoon we decided to head out west to see some big beautiful trees! We flew into Las Vegas and immediately had a fancy all-views dinner at Top Of The World. We spent the next morning exploring Vegas and then headed over to Death Valley National Park were we camped for the night under a desert sky full of stars. After enjoying the morning admiring the unique sites of Death Valley we moved on to Sequoia National Park where we stood in awe at the giant trees. They were unreal! We backpacked one night in Sequoia (after hiking a 2,300 ft elevation gain) to camp near Emerald Lake and woke up to a stunning view. Next, we headed over to Kings Canyon National Park where we appreciated more beautiful trees, some enormous stumps, and breathtaking canyon views. We also did a cool cave tour in Boyden Canyon and made it to our Airbnb just in time for wine and a magical sunset. The next day we went over to Yosemite National Park to enjoy more Sequoia trees and do more backpacking. We hiked a 3,000 ft elevation gain along the Yosemite Falls trails to a crazy amazing overlook view and camped along the top there. The next morning we took the tiring hike down, hopped in the car, and headed over to Muir Woods just in time to appreciate some redwood trees. We finished up our trip in San Francisco having dinner and drinks with a good friend. And that is the fairytale honeymoon in a nutshell. There are so many amazing details and photos to share. It was very busy with we loved the adventure and are so happy with all that we got to see. We're still planning to do Japan in the near future! (We just have a lot of planning to do)