Brunch at our friends' place. Directly after introducing us, Bonnie tells us we should date. Flustered, we politely explain that neither of us was interested in dating anyone at this moment, and socialize elsewhere. Later that night, David downed a glass of whiskey with his best friend, Ben, to get his mind off of Suness. For the next year, we run into each other rock climbing and at our friends' wedding. (Suness was much better at climbing and didn't pay much attention to David at these things.) Finally, we loosely planned on going to mass together. In an unfortunate mix up, we missed each other, and we believed that was the end of the road.....

Until, one morning Suness gets a call from a friend who wants to set her up with Ben. Suness' friend didn't know that David had been pining over Suness since the Mass debacle months before. Ben was well aware. Ben wanted David's happiness, and David pulled up his bootstraps to make a move. Our first date was coffee at Sparrow Cafe and a walk around Lake Harriet in the snow. David's imperviousness to the cold impressed Suness (this quality proved useful a year later when they took engagement photos in 8 degree weather). The date drew to a close and Suness knew in her heart she wanted to know more about this guy. David asked if she'd be interested in going on another date. Delighted, she suggested sledding. She was hoping her athleticism and fun childhood experiences would be on full display. She was wrong.

After a traumatizing second date sledding and a low-key fun third, we came to an agreement. David suggested going on exactly three more dates and then sitting down to "Define the Relationship" (DTR). Suness was amenable to this, because she was very nervous after the third date when David needed a couple days to think and pray about another outing. Suness also wanted this 6th date to be special, and a bit of a test. She chose an upscale sushi restaurant in Minneapolis, knowing that David had never had sushi before. The menu had fish she didn't even know could be sushi, and some niche favorites that she knew would make her seem cultured. Despite never eating with chopsticks before, David passed this restaurant test with flying colors. Adventurous and daring, he ordered fish that surprised Suness's palate. He even cut sashimi in half with his chopsticks, so we could share. This sealed the deal. Our DTR afterwards was quick and to the point. We were eager to see where this relationship was going to go.

5 criteria: Surprise, family nearby, hidden photographer, beautiful place, between December and February. Done and done. Months of planning pulled off a surprise scavenger hunt, ending with David waiting behind a tree in a park (having secretly flew in to complete the surprise). Suness, again, was amenable and said yes.

Three days before the big day, the governor of Minnesota announced that wedding receptions are forbidden, starting that weekend. Suness and David had a few hours to decide what to do with this information. Thanks to so much support from their family, wedding party, friends, and vendors, the couple was able to move their entire wedding ceremony and reception up one day, to Friday November 20th! The day was a miracle that went off without a hitch. Suness and David were able to incorporate things into the day that weren't possible before, like a sparkler exit from the church. The extreme circumstances gave them a strangely tight bond with some of their vendors. Brian and Ben, if you're reading this, please lets hangout sometime. Everything was so clearly in God's hands. The Holy Spirit was palpable at the wedding mass. To our knowledge, no one got COVID who attended the festivities. We couldn't have asked for more. We are excited to celebrate with those who couldn't be there this time around and are praying for safe travels and good circumstances to attend the reception!