Our love story technically began at the awkward age of 13 or so when Ellie was tagging along with her friend, Linley, at the Mount Mansfield Ski Club to hang out with the ski racers. Linley was friends with (legally Facebook married to) a ski racer from St. Albans named Ryan Susslin. Ellie saw those green eyes and Justin Bieber hair and immediately decided she found her crush for the winter! Fast forward to summer 2017 when the Burlington sun was shining on all those freshly turned 21. Ellie and Ryan ran into each other one night at the famed establishment, Rasputin's Bar, and the sparks flew just like the fireworks over Lake Champlain. Ellie and Ryan kept in touch that summer (via Facebook messenger) and during Ellie's senior year at Richmond. They visited each others' homes in Richmond, VA and Newington, NH to make late-morning breakfast sandwiches while listening to Ryan's playlists, check out local breweries, and enjoy the beach. They fell in love and decided to keep dating long-distance while Ryan was in New Hampshire and Ellie moved back to Vermont. I-89 was the invisible string holding their love together in those early years. Eventually, Ellie moved to an apartment three houses down from Ryan in Portsmouth. Since then, they've worked to build their life and their community in the seacoast, moved in together in Portsmouth and co-parented the love of their lives, Otis, and bought a home in Dover where they are continuing to deepen their roots. Throughout all of this, there have been long beach days, hikes throughout New England, game nights with friends (where one of the two gets extremely competitive), homemade dinners al fresco, and bringing out the childlike sides of each other. Our love wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of you, and we're so grateful to celebrate that with you this weekend in a place that holds such special memories for us both!