In the summer of 2015, Susan and Ben both attended the Middlebury Language School's Korean language program in California. They first got to know each other speaking only Korean. Although Susan was in the highest level in the program, she would sometimes sit with the beginner students. This act of kindness resonated with Ben. However, per program rules, the two could only speak in Korean and thus a language barrier impeded a real connection at first. After the program, the two stayed in touch. Ben did his PhD in DC while Susan completed her grad school at Penn State. When Susan would visit family in northern Virginia, she would hangout with Ben. One of the first "dates" was to the Holocaust museum. Yes, awkward indeed... Nonetheless, Susan put up with Ben's peculiarities. In fact, she even liked some of it. Eventually, the two decided they should be more than friends. In Fall 2018, Susan and Ben both moved to New England and in 2019, the two moved yet again to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where they currently live. The two share a love of dogs, the outdoors, and the Cincinnati Bengals (ok, the last one is for Ben).

Hi family & friends, We have some difficult wedding news to share. After a lot of stress and emotional discussions, we have decided to cancel our initial plans for a Rochester wedding in late May. Instead, we are planning a micro-wedding with less than 25 guests including our wedding parties and immediate family in Richmond, Virginia on June 6, 2021 (our original wedding date). This is closer to our families who live in Richmond, VA and Durham, NC. Ben's parents moved in Summer 2020 so he no longer has immediate family in Rochester. We are so sorry and heartbroken our Rochester wedding did not work out with the pandemic. We have truly appreciated your patience and kindness throughout this whole process. We know how rough this last year has been for everyone. We were hoping we could have had our dream Rochester wedding and celebrated in-person with you all. However, we are trying to be mindful of our immunocompromised family members, travel for all our guests, and the risks associated with a large wedding since the future of this pandemic is still uncertain. But there's always a silver lining! Since many of you unfortunately won't be able to celebrate with us in-person, we are planning to livestream our wedding ceremony so you can still participate if you wish to celebrate with us virtually. More information will be posted closer to June 6th via Zola. Lastly, please know that we still would love to celebrate in Rochester when it is safe and comfortable for all to attend. So we are still planning for a dinner party in Rochester once the COVID situation clears up. We will continue to update you all about this in the near or later future depending where this pandemic adventure takes us next. If you have any questions, feel free to call, text, or email us (see below). Many thanks again for your patience and understanding, -Ben & Susan Ben: 585-441-5330; byoun3@gmail.com Susan: 201-562-4312; susank117@gmail.com