Vika and Benji here. We know that getting so many family members and friends together for our Tie the Knot ceremony can leave some knowing more about one of us than the other. And not everyone is familiar with how we got to this point in the first place, so here is the short version of our favorite chapter. Last August we flew from Dallas to Scotland to visit friends, experience the Fringe in Edinburgh, and to Vika's surprise, visit an enchanted spot for our proposal. Benji turned Scotland into a moving puzzle with a stack of golden envelopes. Each one held a clue, and each clue led to the next one. Every day for days, Vika opened an envelope, solved the hint, and we chased it across Scotland by train, bus, and on foot. Castles, gardens, old streets, seaside views, music, and surprises with friends kept appearing at exactly the right moments. The best part was that almost any stop could have been the proposal, which meant Vika stayed wonderfully on her toes the entire time. Eventually the clues carried us north to Loch Lomond. We took a ferry across the water and arrived in the tiny village of Luss. We wandered through its quiet lanes and carefully kept gardens, then followed a trail beside a rushing creek. Ferns lined the banks, a meadow opened up ahead, and the whole place felt like it had been waiting. That was the moment. We stopped by the water, the wind moved through the trees, and everything got calm in that way it does right before something becomes permanent. Benji pulled out a small box and a rose gold botanical ring with emeralds around a diamond, asked, and Vika said yes. There were tears, there was laughing, and there was that strange feeling of time disappearing for a minute because nothing else mattered. After Scotland, we crossed into England and let the joy keep unfolding. In Stratford-upon-Avon we strolled through the park by the river, visited the place where William Shakespeare was born, and saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform. And yes, the Forest of Arden existed there too, which felt like the universe winking at us. That is how we got here. A real life fairy tale, told with golden envelopes, a ferry ride, a creek lined with ferns, and a yes that changed everything.

We've chosen the last name Arden together as our family name, and for a simple reason: we want our marriage to begin with something we both step into equally. Neither of us want this to feel like one person being absorbed into the other’s identity. We want a name that represents partnership, mutual respect, and the life we are building side by side. At the same time, we have deep respect for the surnames we were born with. Those names carry the stories of our families, the people who raised us, and the experiences that shaped us. We are not trying to erase that history or distance ourselves from it. We are grateful for it. Changing our last name is not a rejection of where we come from. It is an extension of it. We carry our families with us in our values, in our character, and in the way we love.

Our wedding journey is unique to who we are and takes place in three parts. Our private vows to each other took place deep in the rainforest in Olympic National park. With our bare feet in the water, surrounded by ferns and moss, we expressed our connection in the most thriving and natural space possible. While we would have LOVED to get 150 people to the forest, we knew that wasn't practical, especially for our East Coast family and friends! So we hosted the second part of our vows with a smaller group of 30, mostly composed of our wedding party and their spouses. We wanted a beautiful ceremony experience in lush surroundings, and Dallas just wasn't going to cut it. That resulted in booking a castle on a lake in the forest near Olympic National Park. It was truly magical and something that we'll share energy from with our family and friends in Dallas. That gets us to our "Tie the Knot" ceremony, which is the "traditional" wedding ceremony with our full group of family and friends. It's where we'll be doing all of the expected stuff, like a fancy cake, first dance, and all of those traditions that we intentionally reserved for the ceremony in April. And that brings us to you, our wonderful family and friends that are all part of our story and brought together to celebrate as we embark on our new journey as the Ardens. We are so excited and grateful to have an opportunity to spend with the people who have anchored our journies in life and continue into our next chapter.