We’re hosting a botched Vegas elopement! Don’t expect traditional, but we hope you’ll join us for our special pre-wedding real wedding!

Katie took an impromptu two week vacation to Ecuador before starting a new job. On her second night in Quito, she decided to get out on a date to practice her Spanish and meet a local. She ended up making plans with her third choice in men for the night, some kinda artsy dancer guy named Lyo whose first question on the dating app was "coffee or wine?" Turns out it was his first date with someone he met on an app and it showed. Lyo was also convinced he was being catfished, cause no way could he have a date with this blonde American girl. They met at a charming bar in Quito and proceeded to have the WORST first date of Katie's life. Katie was exhausted from having a weeklong bout of food poisoning after Mexico, travel, and mountain biking Cotopaxi all day, so her Spanish was terrible. Lyo didn't attempt a word of English and was just...well...awkward as they come. Lyo gave her a hat to remember him by (though she didn't want to remember him) and Katie went off to Banos to continue her solo trip. Somehow, Lyo made his way to Banos to meet Katie. They went out on a very quiet town that evening. Most the bars were empty but for one that was full of people dancing salsa, reggaeton, bachata, and all the fun dance genres. Of course they went there, and the professional dancer Lyo did not fail to impress. They had an incredible night tearing up the dance floor and Lyo realized the gringa had rhythm. The next day they went whitewater rafting and flipped in class IV rapids, a terrifying experience that brought them even closer together. They met along the way in various places in Ecuador to dance, sing, play music, zipline, and distract Katie from some excruciatingly itchy chigger bites; Katie even extended her trip by a day to spend one more day together in Quito. It was arguably the best day of the entire two weeks, solely for the company. By the end of Katie's vacay, and after spending about 5 days together, Katie went home bawling knowing that she had found something special, but having no idea what could possibly come next. It wasn't long after her return and daily 6 hour video calls that they realized there was something really BIG here! Katie filled out the paperwork to get Lyo to the states to live with her. While everyone thought Katie was crazy (including herself for the first 2 rocky months after Lyo’s arrival), somehow the wild plan worked. Six months after Lyo got to the U.S., Katie made a wedding website.