We do...again!

Not to sound cliché', but the engagement was truly magical. If you know us, you know we love Disney, so naturally this is where Alex planned the proposal. In July 2018, we headed to Disney World for our family vacation with the Murray's. We drove down to Florida, checked in to our resort and headed to the Magic Kingdom. The nervous groom to be encountered his first obstacle, the new monorail security checkpoints! He knew he could not empty his pockets without the ring being seen. After some quick thinking, Alex had his father distract Alyssa while Alex was able to pass through security. After reaching the park, we all rushed inside for pictures in front of the castle. Now, we've never done this before, but it didn't seem out of the ordinary to start our vacation off with a few professional photos for keepsakes. The line was rather long, and we waited for what seemed like eternity. All of a sudden, Disney World announced the start of a parade that was going to be coming down Main Street. In this moment, Alex knew he was experiencing obstacle number two. Alex quietly and sternly whispered to the cast member "I'm proposing". The photographer then kicked it into gear to make the magical moment a possibility. Finally, it was our turn. We took a few photos in front of the castle. The photographer had us turn and face the castle with our backs to him (cute Instagram pose, right?). Alex then stepped behind Alyssa. At this point, realizing he was not next to her, she turned around and Alex was down on one knee, smiling ear to ear, asking her to marry him. Obviously saying yes, Alyssa looked around to see hundreds of people cheering and clapping and a Disney parade closing in on their heels. They were swept to one of the gardens for photos as the parade passed by. Now, Alex was very smart in proposing in the beginning of the trip, because the newly engaged couple were able to wear "just engaged pins" the whole week, and boy did Disney spoil them.

We hopped right into wedding planning and chose 4/18/20 as the big day. Just as planning was coming to an end and mostly every to-do was checked off our list, all of our hard work and efforts came to a screeching halt due to COVID-19. After realizing our original wedding date was no longer going to be feasible, we quickly re-scheduled for November 2020. As Summer approached, and the pandemic worsened, we were forced to postpone a second time. Our feelings were different this time around. We knew we didn't want to wait any longer to be husband and wife. We decided to get married in July and postpone our reception. July 18th, 2020 was the best day of our lives. We had a traditional Catholic ceremony, we celebrated with an "I do BBQ" in the scorching July heat, played corn hole and drank one too many White Claws. While having our first dance in the lawn wasn't what we originally planned, everything about the day was perfect. When this first started, we thought we were just one of the unlucky couples trying to get married during a pandemic, but as November 2021 approaches, we're seeing just how lucky we actually are that we get to celebrate our marriage, TWICE! We cannot wait to have this "wedding remix" with ALL our friends and family this time around.