Before COVID-19 spread throughout the globe, we were very fortunate to have had our wedding already in Chile. We had a beautiful and brief ceremony right on the beach and it was a nice and sunny day. After some rest and regrouping, we headed to the event space, where we had some typical midwest lawn games and an absolutely delicious cocktail hour. We danced some, had dinner around 11 (typical for Chile), did all of the normal wedding staples, and then danced again for the rest of night until about 5 AM. Phew! The bright side is that we are married. The downside is that we will not be able to celebrate as planned in Minnesota. With all the government mandated restrictions and the ever changing uncertainties, it would seem silly to go ahead with a wedding and need to drastically cut our guest list, defeating the purpose of celebrating our union with our loved ones in the States. We are not quite sure how to proceed yet (a global pandemic honestly wasn't in my list of "what-if's"... imagine that), but we will figure something out as we always do and we WILL celebrate. It just may not be as soon as we had hoped. We may just wait and do a vow renewal further down the road, as life can take many turns and it is hard to predict what will happen. Please be patient with us as we figure out this next step. We are very grateful that you are in our lives and wanting to celebrate us! We feel your love and support near and far, and that's what matters most.

English (may translate poorly on Chile website): Navigating the union between two people is tough enough, and since we are factoring in two different countries and cultures as well, we are doing things a little differently! Please know that you are important to us, and for that, we will be holding a reception in both countries in order to provide an opportunity to celebrate with our loved ones from all over. We will be holding a civil union and celebration in Pichilemu, Chile, on January 4th, 2020, and a religious ceremony and reception at an undetermined date in Minnesota due to COVID-19. As per Chilean customs, most couples have a civil union first, and then a church wedding many months following, so we are somewhat on par! Traduccion en Spanish: Navegando la union entre dos personas ya es complicado, y como tambien estamos contando con dos paises y culturas distinctas, estamos haciendo las cosas un poco diferentes! Que sepan que ustedes son importantes para nosotros, y por eso estamos haciendo una boda en ambos paises para poder proveer la oportunidad para celebrar con nuestros queridos de todas partes. Estaremos celebrando una union civil en Punta de Lobos y una fiesta despues en la Chucara el 4 de Enero del 2020, y en Minnesota celebraremos una union religiosa con una recepcion informal despues.

English (may translate poorly on Chile website): Whether you believe in God's plan, in fate, or a little bit of both, Leah and Francisco's paths crossed and it forever changed the course of their lives. Leah had been teaching in Chile for a few months, and Francisco was finishing up his degree in Mechanical Engineering, neither one of them looking for any kind of relationship. They met at a get-together that Franciso's brother, Luis, had invited Leah to (who had been saying all year that they should get together) but Francisco had no interest in meeting a "gringa". Leah wasn't sure how she felt about him at first, but after a few more friend gatherings as acquaintances, they got to know one another and realized that somehow they would be very important in each other's lives. Traduccion en Spanish: Aun que se creen en Dios, en el destino, o un poco de ambas cosas, los caminos de Francisco y Leah se cruzaron y ahi se cambio el trayecto de sus vidas por siempre. Leah estaba enseñando ingles en Chile un par de meses y Francisco estaba terminando sus estudios en la ingieneria mechanica, ninguno de los dos buscando ningun tipo de relacion con nadie. Se conocieron en un carrete informal a que el hermano, Pitufo, habia invitado a la Leah (despues de meses diciendo que saldran a hacer algo un fin de semana) pero al Francisco no le tenia ningun interes en conocer a una gringa. Al principio, la Leah no estaba muy segura de que se sentia, pero despues de juntar entre amigos varias veces mas, se dio cuenta que el Francisco iba a ser alguien importante en su vida de alguna forma.

English (may translate poorly on Chile website) Leah should have seen this coming. They had talked about forming a life together before, and in one of Francisco's shorter visits to Minnesota, Leah started to accept that fact that it would just have to remain a hopeful possibility in the distant future. A few days before Francisco left back for Chile, and after arriving home from a very long road trip, they went for a walk in the park behind Leah's parent's house. Leah should have noticed this was suspicious, as Francisco isn't much of a walk for pleasure kind of guy. Even more suspicious was that Francisco insisted on sitting on EVERY bench in the park. Just before arriving home, on the bleachers (aka: the very last possible seating possibility), Francisco began to question what a future together would look like and what Leah had envisioned if she were to ever be proposed to. That's when he pulled out the ring and popped the question (in English!) and after Leah questioned "really?" and "seriously?" a million times in disbelief, she said, OF COURSE! Traduccion en Spanish: La Leah deberia haberlo visto venir, como habian hablado de formando un futuro juntos alguna vez, pero pensaba que iba a seguir siendo una posibilidad del futuro lejano no mas. En uno de los viajes cortitos del Francisco a Minnesota, y despues de un viaje largo en auto, se fueron a estirar las piernas en el parque detras de la casa de los padres. Deberia haber sido sospechoso, como a Francisco no le gusta ir a caminar solo porque si. Aun mas sospechoso era que insistio en sentando en CADA banco que habia. Justo antes de llegar a la casa, en el ultimo sitio posible donde sentar, se puso a preguntarla como sera un futuro juntos y como visualizaba si le pidiera matrimonio. Era entonces que saco un anillo, se arrodillo, y la preguntaba si se casaria con el (en Ingles!). Despues de preguntarle "en serio?" y de verdad?" mil veces en shock, le contesto que "CLARO que si!"