It goes without saying that 2020 was a year of unexpected events. A lot has happened since the first proposed "date" of our wedding -- families grew in number, friendships were strengthened, and more than anything, we were reminded how we are all connected. With all that in mind, we're very happy to host a wedding reception this September -- to celebrate our union, the birth of our child, and all the small joys that managed to grow out of the last two crazy years.

Brian and Alex worked together at an animation studio in Boston and became fast friends. As work slowed down, they moved to different cities and lost contact. About a year later, they reconnected as Alex was working in New York and Brian lived in Atlanta. Brian came to visit Alex around Valentine’s Day, and the two went to a three star Michelin restaurant on a “date” as a joke. Six years later, that’s the day they celebrate as their anniversary.

Six years after they first started dating, Brian and Alex returned to New York for a visit. While there, Brian made sure to insist on going to the same three star Michelin restaurant where they had their first date. The restaurant knew the plan ahead of time, and seated them in a cozy and romantic private booth. Right before the dessert course, Brian presented the ring that belonged to his grandmother. Despite saying how it should have been obvious in retrospect, Alex was blind-sided, and her first words were through bleary tears of joy “I'm sorry I didn’t get you anything!"

When Brian’s mother first came to America from Vietnam in the 1970s, it was to to the hometown of his father, who grew up on Cape Cod. The two were eventually married in a small chapel, before moving to Canada. Alex’s father had a summer home on the cape, and she grew up spending beach-filled weekends with her brother and cousins. Her parents eventually bought a home there for their retirement, and the ceremony is going to be held in their back yard. That little area of the cape holds a special place of sentimentality for Brian and Alex, and felt like the natural place for an intimate gathering for the biggest day of their lives.