Question

Is there a dress code?

Answer

Yes! The dress code is cocktail. (Military uniforms are welcome, even if they're white:)

Question

Is there parking for the ceremony or reception?

Answer

Fear not! There is plenty of parking at the venue!

Question

When should I RSVP by?

Answer

The sooner the better but please RSVP by no later than May 26, 2026!

Question

After Party?

Answer

If you don't want the night to end, join us at Coconut Joe's Bar and Grille, located just a short drive down the street at 48 S River Rd S, Edgewater, MD 21037. All are welcome!

Question

What's The Story Here, Evan?

Answer

I’m in love with Natalie Smith, and if you know me, you know that’s nothing new. I fell in love with Natalie in our freshman year of high school, back in the winter of 2014. I have a very clear memory of the moment. We sat together after school one day and, for some reason, our conversation turned into us sharing essays and poems we had written that we’d never shown anyone else. We spent the rest of that afternoon together, in a depth of conversation I had never experienced before. Even at 15, I felt the weight of the moment–I just spent the day talking to the love of my life Over the next year, we grew closer as friends. We continued to share our emo high-schooler poetry and talk about ‘music and movies and stuff’. She didn’t know at the time, but I was falling further and further in love with her during every conversation. During spring break of our sophomore year, with the encouragement of some friends, I worked up the courage to finally tell her how I felt. We sat on a field at Young Life’s Rockbridge campus, and I told her that I’d had feelings for her for over a year…to which she responded by affirming our friendship. I took it like a champ. Over the next few months, I put more and more distance between us to try and get over my feelings for her. No matter how far I got, though, I could never shake the feeling that there was something deeply wrong about a life spent apart from her. I guess she felt the same way, because about a year and a half after I confessed my feelings for her, she confessed her feelings for me. Oh how the turntables!

Question

Classic. What Happened Next?

Answer

It took a while for us to get the timing right, but we finally started dating…right as I left for plebe summer at the Naval Academy in 2018. We spent the next two and a half years long-distance but in love, her in California and me in Annapolis. It was hard knowing that we’d spent so much time together in high school while we weren’t together in love, and now that we were together in love, we were on opposite sides of the country. We’d find ways to spend time with each other every month or so, but we longed for a future where we could finally be together AND together. So during our junior year of college, when COVID hit and brought with it quarantines and travel bans, we panicked. After a few dark months of quarantine and isolation, I decided that if we couldn’t be together for the foreseeable future, we should just be apart.

Question

Wait What? Evan What Were You Thinking??

Answer

Oh trust me, I know. The next few years were rough. We had gone our separate ways, but the feelings never passed. I felt like I had allowed a single isolating period of my life to dictate an end to the only real love I had ever known. After college, I moved to England and had the opportunity to travel the world for a time–but every place I went was a place I’d rather be with Natalie. Everything reminded me of her. I’m not exaggerating, ask anyone who knew me, I was a brooding mess. Five years passed, but that feeling never did. Natalie had moved back to Annapolis, and I was moving all around for flight school. Five years later, and I was still grieving. I spent a lot of time thinking of ways to reach out to her, but nothing felt like enough. There were plenty of letters I wrote and never sent.

Question

Tell Me That's Not How the Story Ends!

Answer

Then one day, as I was walking alone on a trail in Pensacola and thinking about her, my phone rang. It was Natalie! I guess I hadn’t considered that I could just call (sorry Nat). We talked for a few hours that day, and hours and hours over the next few weeks. We talked about movies and music and stuff. We shared essays and poems we had written that we’d never shown anyone else. We talked about C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton and how weirdly into Radiohead I had gotten. Our grief was slowly reformed into the love it had come from, and from there I fell further and further in love with her every time we spoke. The moment I saw her in person again, a few months after she called, I knew I’d never let that love go. And on a beach in Pensacola, watching the sunset together, we both silently agreed that we would spend the rest of our lives together. I loved Natalie when I was 15. I loved her when I was 20. I loved her when I was 25. But I can honestly say that I had never loved her as much as I did the day I asked her to marry me. Natalie and I are thrilled to celebrate our wedding with the people we love. We’re so excited to eat and drink and laugh and dance with you all as she and I finally begin a life together. I’m in love with Natalie Smith, and if you read all of this, you know that’s nothing new. RSVP below!