We’re getting married!!

Dear Family and Friends, We hope you and yours are healthy and safe. In May of 2020, the United States passed a travel order that barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in Brazil. This travel ban is still in place and as most of you know, Bea’s parents live in Brazil. Therefore, as of now, they would be unable to come to the wedding unless they quarantined in a different country for 14 days and then traveled to the United States. There is no information as to when that travel ban will be lifted. Due to work scheduling, they are only able to take that much time off in the Summer. Unfortunately, we are not confident that the Massachusetts COVID restrictions will be lifted by the Summer, making it impossible to have a full wedding then. For this reason, we have decided to have an intimate celebration with our parents and bridal party in July, when Bea’s parents are able to safely travel to the United States. However, we still miss all of you and want to celebrate with you! So, mark your calendars, and join us for a larger reception on November 6, 2021. The health and safety of our friends and families are our highest priority, and though we have been looking forward to gathering to celebrate, we acknowledge that it is currently not possible to do so safely. We are, of course, disappointed, but we are thankful to have such a great support system to help us manage these challenging times. Please see further details on our website: www.zola.com/wedding/beaandjoe Love, Joe and Bea

We met at Gordon College in the Spring of 2015. We both went to Gordon at the same time, Joe as a transfer student and I as an incoming freshman. I worked at the dinnig hall and Joe always stopped by during my shift to say hi. After I got off work, we would stay at the dining hall and study together. Though we never really got any studying done, we’d sit in that dining hall and talk for hours. After being friends for a while, we started dating November 2016. We dated for almost 4 years and got engaged on September 26, 2020.

Joe proposed on September 26,2020. My birthday was a couple days before, so Joe told me we were going to celebrate at a vinyard in New Hampshire just the two of us, and then meet up with a couple friends later that night for dinner reservations at a Brazilian steakhouse. After spending the afternoon in New Hampshire, our friends Anna and Pat, asked us if we would want to join them at Halibut Point State Park to see the sunset. Halibut Point is my favorite spot on the North Shore so of course I wanted to go. Joe hesitated (even though this was all part lf his plan) but ended up agreeing. When we got there, Joe walked me to the ocean view. After looking at the sunset for a few minutes I looked around and noticed that a crowed strangers were gathered looking at us. I asked Joe why everyone was staring but he reassured me they were just watching the sunset. Joe then gave me my “birthday card” with the sweetest note. It ended something like...“I’ve seen a lot of love stories, but ours is my favorite. Lets keep this one going...” When I looked up he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He asked the question and of course I said yes! We left the park to make our dinner reservation. I didnt realize there actually was no dinner reservation until I walked into a random house filled with our closest family and friends yelling “SUPRISE!”

A gente se conheceu na faculdade. Eu estava no primeiro ano, e o Joe no segundo. Eu trabalhava no refeitório e ele semore me visitava no trabalho. Quando acabava meu horario, a gente sentava no refeitório para estudarmos juntos (só que a gente acabava passando horas conversando e esqueciamos de estudar!) Depois de sermos amigos por um tempo, começamos a namorar em Novembro de 2016. Namoramos por 4 anos, e ficamos noivos dia 26 de Setembro de 2020.

O Joe me pediu em casamento no dia 26 de Setembro de 2020. Meu aniversário é alguns dias antes então ele me disse que a gente ia sair para celebrar numa vinícula, e a noite iriamos encontrar uns amigos em uma churrascaria Brasileira. Depois de passarmos a tarde na vinícula, nossos amigos Pat e Anna, mandaram uma mensagem perguntando se a gente queria encontrar ele num parque para ver o pôr do sol (tudo parte do plano do Joe!) Nós aceitamos o convite. Quando chegamos no parque, percebi que tinham muitas pessoas nos olhando e perguntei pro Joe o porquê. Ele disse que as pessoas estavam olhando o pôr do sol e não a gente. Eu desencanei e ficamos vendo o sol se pôr por alguns minutos quando ele me disse que tinha mais uma surpresa pra mim. Ele me entregou uma carta que contava nossa história e no final falava “eu já presenciei muitas histórias de amor, mas a nossa é a minha preferida. Vamos continuar a nossa história...” Quando terminei de ler, olhei para ele e ele estava ajoelhado segurando um anel. Ele então pediu, “Bea, casa comigo?” E eu disse “SIM!!” Todos que estavam no parque aplaudiram! Depois disso, tivemos uma pequena celebração (surpresa para mim) com nossos amigos e familiares mais próximos.