Welcome, family and friends! We can't wait to celebrate our wedding with you.

Despite living in the same building (MacGregor Hall), sharing a closet pipe (Amy's room was the floor above Maria's), and having a friend in common (Amy's roommate, Jill), Amy and Maria didn't spend much time together until a s'mores party during finals week in their first semester of college at Mount Holyoke. The microwaved s'mores left something to be desired, but the conversation between Maria and Amy was great. It wasn't love at first sight - they had seen and even talked to each other before - but they were each enchanted by the other that night.

The s'mores night was followed by winter break. Maria stalked Amy's social media accounts and wondered if Amy was thinking about her. Amy stalked Maria's social media accounts and wondered the same thing. Finally, winter break ended and the two met each other in the laundry room. Bashfully, they made small talk while tossing dirty underwear into washing machines. The next day, Amy had lunch with Jill, Maria, and the rest of their friend group. In fact, that friend group shared almost every meal together at MacGregor, despite the fact that other dining halls were closer to classes and served better food. In February, the friend group met in the TV room every night after dinner to watch the Olympics. Amy and Maria tried to sit next to each other whenever possible, and would often stay up talking to each other long after everyone else went to bed. One night, Maria was anxious and left a group hang. Amy followed, and they decided to go for a hike in the snow behind the Delles (at midnight, and in zero-degree weather - the things you do for love!). It had snowed several feet in previous weeks and there was a thin sheet of ice across the top, so the hike was slow-going. When they reached the top of the hill, a spooky noise sent them crashing back to the dorm. Predictably, Maria's foot got caught in a deep drift and she fell over. Amy promised that if anything chased them, Amy would fall over so that Maria could run to safety. It was an odd but sweet gesture. When they returned to MacGregor, they sat on the stairs and talked for several more hours, neither wanting to leave the other but both too afraid to make a move. One of Amy's friends passed by several times, always remarking, "You guys are still here?"

On a chilly afternoon in early March, Amy went to find Maria at the barn. On their walk back to the dorm, Maria complained that her hands were cold. Amy took Maria's hand (to keep it warm, of course). That night, they shared an enthusiastic first kiss on the oh-so-romantic blue sofa in the TV room. For their first real date, Amy took Maria to a vegetarian restaurant in Northampton. On the way there, Maria said, "I love Loraine!" and Amy, jealous, asked, "Who's Loraine?" And Maria laughed because it was raining, and Maria had said, "I love the rain." And Amy laughed too. They didn't want the date to end, so Amy got a coffee that the bumpy PVTA bus spilled on the crotch of Amy's pants. They still didn't want the date to end, so they went back to the dorm for Amy to put on clean pants and then they went to see a movie at the theater across the street. While watching the Hunger Games, their clasped hands fell asleep because they didn't want to stop touching. Amy knew it was true love when Maria started to get up just to eat breakfast with Amy. Maria knew it was true love when Amy accidentally spilled ranch dressing and salad all over Maria's backpack and Maria laughed so hard she cried. Maria and Amy have been together ever since. They have lived in New Mexico, Massachusetts, and now North Carolina together. So far, they have only adopted two dogs but they talk about adding more creatures of all shapes and sizes to their family on a daily basis. They have spent most of their time during COVID hiking around Raleigh, trying takeout from new restaurants, playing board games, watching scary movies, and geeking out about dog training.