Our story began in the most unlikely place. We met back in 2014 through the infamous dating app, Tinder. Our first date was at Dave and Busters, and for those of you who know Elyse, you know how much she LOVES arcade games. She was all in from the start. On the second date Brenden, being the gentleman that he is, had already had met the future in-laws, since he insisted on coming to the front door. Flash forward three years, and we decided to take the leap and “test drive marriage,” as Uncle Gene put it, by moving in together. We have so many fond memories of kayaking under the California sun and laughs with friends over dinner and drinks, but after five years together, we took another leap by packing up our cars and moving to the frigid cold of New England so that Brenden could start his PA program. Now here we are, six exciting years together, and we find ourselves newly wed and living in a beautiful home in the forest. Elyse has a great job selling wine and spirits along the Connecticut shoreline, and we both could not be happier with where our love has brought us. We feel so blessed knowing we have chosen each other to take on life with.

Brenden had been working hard for two years going to school full time and working nights at the hospital, so when he finally got a break from school, we were both ready for a much needed vacation. A trip to Maui was in order. There we spent our time hiking, snorkeling, and drinking mai tais on the beach. Brenden had bigger plans, though. One evening, with Elyse thinking that we were only having dinner, we were lead by our waiter to a private table on a secluded portion of the beach. After an amazing meal, when the waiter had gone, and it was just the two of us, Brenden slipped down onto one knee and asked Elyse to be his wife. We were both so elated that we can barely remember what was said, but we know that we were so happy that it was official and we could start this next chapter of our lives.

After an extended engagement, and having been forced to push back our wedding date once already, we decided that the world was just too unpredictable at this moment to wait any longer to get married. We chose Sunday August 16th in La Jolla as our special day. Waking up that morning, we both felt so relaxed knowing that there was no right way to have a COVID wedding, and that everything would happen as it should. Elyse did her own hair, and her sister Emily helped with her makeup. Brenden tied on his bow-tie and enjoyed some whiskey with his dad, brother Jason, and new brother-in-law Patton. Penelope put on her dress and twirled around all morning talking about how excited she was for her flower girl responsibilities. It was a wonderful, intimate ceremony with just our immediate families in attendance. Our officiant was Craig Grimm, a man who has been a big part of Elyse’s life and someone we both look up too. He gave us excellent advice on how to navigate marriage, and was very hands on before our big day. With the sun shining over head, the cool breeze in our hair, and the sound of waves crashing at the bottom of the cliff, Craig delivered a touching introduction, then we read each other our personalized vows. To symbolize the combination of our lives we took a non-traditional approach and mixed a Manhattan together, threw up a cheer, kissed, and walked back down the aisle to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours” for the first time as husband and wife. After the ceremony we enjoyed appetizers, took a ton of family photos, and sat down to enjoy a lunch with our newly combined families. We didn’t have a first dance, but we enjoyed cutting the cake and hearing speeches from those closest to us. Although it wasn’t what we had had in mind when we first became engaged, it was a day filled with love and one that we can never forget. We wish so much that we could of celebrated with all of our friends and family, but know that each one of you was in our hearts.

https://galleries.donegeemedia.com/Weddings/Brenden-and-Elyse/Video/i-hP9wT9n Our amazing video by our photographer and friend Dannie Pham!