We are so excited to celebrate our love with all of you! A big part of that is honoring and sharing our identities fully for you to witness us accurately. Laura (she/they) is a queer femme and cannot wait to be a bride and Mel's wife. Mel (they/them) is non-binary, and they are so stoked to be a spouse and Laura's partner for life. It is important for us to honor the long history of LGBTQIA+ advocates that have made celebrating our love possible, and to also recognize that it is still a privilege for us to do so safely and surrounded by support. While we represent only a sliver of the diversity of human experience, we appreciate your efforts to un-condition from the constructs of heteronormative gender and celebrate us for who we are. To honor both of our own journeys, and those of many of our guests, this will also be a sober celebration.

We'll be hosting our big day on Mel's parent's property, located on ancestral land of the Ojibwe People (Warba, MN). The northern woods of our home state have held many special moments for us, from our first date to our official engagement. We're getting married outside rain or shine, so please check the weather and plan accordingly! Visit our FAQ page for more info on celebrating outdoors, travel, and parking.

Our friendship started in 2006 after initially meeting in a psychology class at Jefferson High School. A year later, Laura went off to college at the University of Michigan. It was her first trip home for the holidays when we really caught each other’s eye. Two and a half years of long-distance dating ensued, sustained by cheap Megabus tickets, angsty mixed tapes featuring Tegan & Sara, MySpace messaging, and Webcam calls. We decided to go our separate ways in 2010, as Mel was pursuing their BFA in Photography at the Art Institute of Minneapolis and Laura studied abroad through Semester at Sea. We remained close friends at a distance, with Mel being the first person Laura would call every time she came home to visit. In the spring of 2017, Laura moved back to MN. Our love was rekindled when Mel unexpectedly tagged along on a trip to the Boundary Waters. That first date lasted four days and prompted a season full of catching up over lost time, including many more epic dates, often with our dogs Tulsi and Rye. We gave long distance another go when Laura followed work out to Portland, OR. After 9 months of countless Facetimes and many cross-country visits, we had enough and spent a week driving Laura back home, this time for good. The city shut down in 2020 was ironically when we officially moved in together. We gardened our way through the pandemic and built a home together, chicken coop included. Laura started grad school at the University of Minnesota while Mel continued growing their photography career. Last year was a cross-roads for us, as Laura began her recovery and Mel focused on their own healing. Through it all, we learned that our care for each other remained unwavering. We stand proudly today as a pair that kept finding each other through the fog of life and as a representation of true happiness through hard work. We can't wait to celebrate with our family and friends who have seen the many phases of our relationship and been there for us along the way!