When deciding on a new last name, we didn’t find it fitting for either bride to take the other’s family name. Even with a name generator and our wildest dreams, combining the two just didn’t work (Curley-Juuls? Juurley? Yeah, nope). We brainstormed adjectives that we felt properly described our story thus far and would live up to the women we aspire to be and children we hope to raise. From this, Konrad was found. Konrad means bold, wise counsel, and courageous leader. These are the attributes that describe our story and the story we continue to write.

Hi All - Due to COVID-19, we've decided to take what control we can and cancel our current planned Spokane wedding. Our wedding was set to be over 150 people in a venue that couldn't have offered proper social distancing. We're taking our bridal party, immediate families, and a few friends to Kauai for our original wedding date of 08/07/2021. COVID tests and a bubble quarantine period are required and we know that you'll all understand how stressful this experience has been and that, at some point, we just had to make a decision for the sake of our sanity. We continue to send all of you the best vibes, prayers, good thoughts, and pixie dust as we continue to walk through this strange season. Much love, Ashlyn and Mara

Some might say that we met at the University we both attended but they'd be wrong. We met at a Christmas party. Mara was coming from a wedding and was over an hour late. Ashlyn went as something to do outside of dorm life. Ashlyn had brought a white elephant gift of nail polish mugs that she'd made herself and Mara took pity on her by being the recipient of said gifts. We hit it off that night, became Facebook friends and it grew from there.

We chose Portland, OR as our first official date as it is precisely 180 miles from home. That gave us enough distance to (hopefully) not run into anyone we knew and we knew that Portland was safe enough to not only handle two women holding hands but embrace it. The rest is documented through hundreds of hand-written letters over the next three years as we endured long-distance, religious persecution, and the building of a solid foundation for our relationship. The "closet" allowed us to over-communicate our feelings and needs, set boundaries, and piece together decisions about what our life would look like together.

07.24.2020 (Mara to Ashlyn): After over a year of planning, COVID happened and I wasn't able to pull off the exact proposal that I had intended for Ashlyn. I did fully convince her that it was happening 7/31/2020 which gave me some leverage. We got dressed for our "date" and headed to the venue. Upon arrival, Ashlyn thought we were at AXIS to explore an art gallery. We soaked in some of the art and then rounded a corner to see a canvas print of one of our favorite pictures of us together. Along with it was a declaration of love and hidden in the corner was a photographer (Kendra K.) to capture Ashlyn's reaction to this moment. I pulled out a letter I had written to Ashlyn, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. She got around to saying yes and the ring fit perfectly. 08.08.2020 (Ashlyn to Mara): Over the course of 2020 I wrote fourteen hand-written letters in which the first letter of each letter would spell out "Will You Marry Me?" when put all together. Beginning with a sunny Saturday wake-up kiss, Mara received a letter every hour of the day. We binge-watched "Say Yes to the Dress" and played with our four foster kittens during the morning. I then surprised her with a custom made macaron named "Mara's Mac" at our favorite date spot, Lady Yum, where she also received letter number seven. Letter eight was handed to her in the middle (okay, not the middle) of Lake Washington in a double kayak as we enjoyed Mara's Macs. After battling choppy water and seasickness, we paddled back to shore and went shopping for the perfect proposal dress for Mara (Old Navy for the win)! Letter thirteen was given at a private sunset dinner on the dock of Salty's on Alki Beach. The final letter was brought out with our drinks by our server and of course, I forgot everything I planned to say. I'm sure I mumbled something romantic as I got down on one knee and Mara read aloud the final sentence of a day of love letters: Mara Lynn Curley... Will You Marry Me?