Dawn and Mike met way back in 2008, when they were both helping with a mutual friend's photo art project. But back then Mike was fresh out of college and Dawn was not, and they didn't really connect. The real story begins in 2017, the first time Dawn went contra dancing. Mike had been contra dancing regularly, and was quick to notice an unfamiliar dancer who was clearly new to contra but a good dancer. Dawn liked that a cute guy complimented her on her dancing. Once they exchanged names, Mike remembered Dawn. But Mike had changed his hair (facial and head-al), and Dawn didn't remember him. Still, she thought he was interesting enough to mention him to her friend, who took matters into his own hands and invited Mike to her upcoming party, on her behalf. Mike couldn't make it to the party, but they did arrange to meet. Mike naturally thought the next two lunches were dates. Dawn underestimated the message sent by using a wingman, and just figured they were getting to know each other, to see if they wanted to room together on an alumni association trip to the Galapagos Islands (since they shared the same alma mater). Dawn thought her flirting was falling on deaf ears, while Mike thought things were going so well that they shouldn't be rushed. Eventually they hiked to a romantic mountaintop and Mike put his arm around Dawn, and that got them on the same page about what was going on. Once that was cleared up, things moved pretty quickly. They shared their hopes and dreams, fell in love, moved in together, and now they're getting married.

First, a note about strategy. Mike had heard of too many carefully orchestrated proposals ruined by circumstances beyond control, and so opted instead to be ready to propose at any moment, and strike when the time was right. This meant carrying the ring around in his jacket. That was super stressful. But they were outdoorsy, and the ring looked best in sunlight, so to be ready for an outdoor proposal the ring had to be in the jacket. About two weeks passed. There were some almost-right moments, like when they went to the fancy sushi place, and ended up with a private table in the back room. But they were feeling cruddy after long weeks at work, so that wasn't the right time. The next day they planned to go to the beach, which promised to be a good opportunity (with Dawn growing up in a beach town and all). But that Saturday morning, as they had a lazy domestic morning at home, Mike realized that this was actually the right time. The surprise was lessened by Mike having to go fetch the ring out of the coat closet, but Dawn still said yes.

We thought we had our wedding all planned out. Cake flavors chosen, soundtrack for the bouquet toss, ribbons tied on centerpieces and favors. But it turns out the very first decision we'd made was a problem: the date. There were no big weddings in April 2020. But we'd been looking forward to this wedding date for over a year. We had already celebrated our negative 1st anniversary. We weren't going to let little things -- like not having any guests, the county clerk's office being closed, and not being allowed to leave the house -- stop us from getting married on our wedding day. We were fortunate in one thing: we lived with each other, our officiant, and an experienced photographer/videographer. So we set out to replan our wedding. We tested different laptops. We tidied up the garden. We altered clothes we had in the closet. We checked the angles of sun and camera. We stacked our boxes full of wedding supplies to use as a laptop stand. We rehearsed. We laid down spike tape. We picked flowers from our yard. We prepared a "technical difficulties" sign, just in case. Finally the big day came. We pushed the "go live" button, started the music, and began beaming our wedding to people spread across the continent. Dawn looked stunning, even without professional hair and make-up. We nodded along to Rob's reflections, and cried at each other's vows. You the audience got a better look at our rings as the thumbnail for the stream than you would have in person. Finally we were pronounced husband and wife, and kissed, to the audible cheers of a few curious onlookers who happened to be passing by, and the inaudible (to us) cheers of you all in your homes. We were deprived of an in-person reception, but you still made us feel loved with your notes, videochats, pictures, and yes even a few videos. By mid-afternoon, our cheeks ached from smiling so much. Thank you for being with us through it all.

We've had our wedding (see above), and are happy to finally have a limited reception around our one and a half year anniversary to celebrate our marriage in person.