It's wedding time! (Finally)

It started with motorcycles and friends who thought we'd get along. We both are from the Midwest, own green kayaks, ride motorcycles, and like to make things. It turns out they were right. In the simpler times of the summer of 2019, we started talking at a series of barbecues and events where mutual friends gently nudged us together. We hung out solo for the first time in late July on a kayaking trip up the Mystic River, which turned out to be a date. We were highly efficient over the next months, moving from that maybe-a-date to 6 dates in a single weekend. By October, we had decided we liked each other enough to sit through several hours of air travel together, and by the end of that trip were planning to meet each other's families. Things continued to escalate quickly, especially as the world around us changed. In our first year: Meghan left a job; Geoff started a new job; Meghan finally found a new job; a pandemic hit the world. Through this roller coaster, we leaned on each other and decided we were stronger together, so we consolidated apartments. By July 2020, we were ready to get out of the city and flew to Montana for some fresh air. While in the splendor of the mountains, floating down a cool river, under the slight influence of a drink or three, Meghan reached out from her inner tube and asked, "Are we doing this? Forever?" Geoff said, "Yeah, we can do this." It was pretty magical.

Though the summer 2020 trip out West was a reprieve, the realities of fall and winter in Boston were challenging. Being committed partners in a time when it was difficult to be around other people helped us explore each other's creativities and interests more, as well as pushed us to develop new traditions together. We gave ourselves challenges, from making presents to inventing new weekly pizzas, and learned how to work together. We realized that we needed our own space and really wanted to expand our projects to the outdoors. In fairly efficient fashion, we started looking at houses on Zillow in January of 2021, and were touring by March. Six rejected offers later, we bought a house halfway up a "mountain". It was exactly the house for us, with plenty of space for hobbies and projects both inside and out. (Being us, we also dove into wedding planning at the same time.) Naturally, we decided to start homeownership with a quick update to the kitchen: some new cabinets, a little paint, new floor - nothing we couldn't handle on our own. One weekend in, we realized it needed much more, and those minor updates became a complete renovation, all the way down to the studs. After two months we finally had a fully functional kitchen that suited us perfectly, and we were able to stop washing dishes in our bathroom. To maintain efficiency during the kitchen project, we also worked on the outdoor spaces. We added screens, plants, and furniture to make an inviting lounge on the large patio, 20' above the street, and started a small container garden. With the help of Geoff's parents, we planted our first native perennials, adding a touch of color around the house. Our goal is to continue to convert the landscape to a native pollinator/butterfly habitat (also reducing the amount of time we spend mowing our steep "lawn".) In the coming year we plan to build raised-bed gardens, cut a path to the top of the mountain, and truly make this house our home. (See Photos section)

Our engagement was a happy moment in the midst of a tumultuous year defined by uncertainty and change, in our lives and in the rest of the world. We questioned whether we should even have an event, but we ultimately decided that we wanted to try to gather our family and friends to share this moment with us. We wanted to make sure that we did this as responsibly as possible so that we could have a fun, relaxed time together. Our planning baked in some safety measures, including waiting until later in the summer so that all would have a chance to be vaccinated, being outside where plenty of fresh air would come off the marsh, and keeping the guest list to our closest friends and family. It is vital to us that we work together to keep everyone safe. Since we have people coming from across the country, we are asking all of you to take precautions to keep yourself Covid-safe while you travel and in the days leading up to the event. We appreciate everyone's help with this and are happy to answer any questions and provide insight on local guidance, so that we can just focus on making wonderful memories on the day of our wedding. We are grateful for our friends and family who have stepped in to make this party a reality in such an uncertain time. Our vision was for this day to be a chance for us all to come together to share a joyful moment, and we hope that it is as meaningful to you as it is to us. For those that cannot join us on the big day, please know that you are with us in our hearts and that we plan to take a lot of trips in the future to keep celebrating life.