WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! -TAKE 2

Obviously we never expected this even a month ago- I think it's safe to say that not many of us thought this entire COVID-19 situation was going to be THIS serious when it all started. While we were deeply saddened to reschedule the wedding, we knew protecting the health and safety of everyone we love was much more important (oh yea, plus everything will still be closed by then). Through scrambling to find one of the few dates our venue had left to reschedule, we discovered August 22nd was available, which is technically the day we started our long distance relationship. Maybe it was all meant to be this way! Our plan is - as you should have received in the NEW invite envelope- to proceed with everything being the same - except for the date. A shower is still being discussed, but due to the unkown and for exactly how long, it may be forgone all together. We appreciate all the love, support and understanding that we have received so far. Needless to say it's not an ideal situation, but at the end of the day, we really are all in this together. We love you all very much. Stay safe and healthy. We look forward to celebrating with you in August. Love, Susie and Bryan

Susie and Bryan met in seventh grade in the halls of Lakewood Middle School. While they hung out in the same group of friends, by the time they reached eighth grade, 14 year old Bryan had other plans. One day over this weird internet program - AOL Instant Messenger (AIM for short) , Bryan decided to ask Susie out,who at the time looked like Ms. Swan from MAD TV. Sadly, the next day, being too shy to deliver the news herself, Susie had a mutual friend tell Bryan she was not romantically interested in him. Though despite Bryan's (slightly) broken heart, the two remained friends until the age of 16. It was at this time, when Susie transferred to a different school followed by Bryan's family moving to a different town, that ultimately caused them to part ways.

Facebook brought us back together! After years of being one of those friend's that you have on social media who you were once cool with but have now absolutely no interaction with, our shared wacky sense of humor blossomed from playful banter between two old friends to something much more. All it took was one visit home after not seeing each other for fifteen years and a whole lot of Facebook/text messaging, to make it official. After eight months of dating long distance (since Susie was living in Colorado at the time), Bryan flew out to Denver and drove Susie the 1,800 miles home to New Jersey so they could be together.

We were in California visiting Bryan's brother Craig, Susie's brother Evan and their families for a nice vacation during the week of Independence Day. On July 4th, Craig's in-laws invited us onto their boat to watch the fireworks they shoot off from a barge. After the finale, Bryan pulled out the ring and said "That may be the finale, but how about one more bang?" Needless to say, Susie said yes and was pleasantly surprised - along with everyone else since no one (except his mother and best friend Bryant) knew he was going to do it that night! It really made for quite a memorable vacation!