Hello everyone! We look forward to celebrating with you virtually on 11/14 at 4:45 p.m. ET. Here is the link to watch -- and don't forget to snap a photo if you can! https://evt.live/tonyammalinowski/tonya-aaron

When we sent out our save the dates earlier this year, we did so staring down months of difficult circumstances and choices. We sent those reminders anyway, if only to say that despite the hopelessness of the moment and the uncertainty of the future, life would go on and love would endure. We still believe that, but sadly, sometimes hope and hard choices go hand-in-hand. For your safety and ours, we’ve decided to have only our immediate family present in-person on our wedding day. In a year of impossible decisions, this was one of the most difficult of all, but we feel it is the right decision to make. As we say in the South, there will come a day, by and by, when we can hug and share a table once again. And what a day that will be. In the meantime, we invite you to celebrate with us on a live stream of the ceremony at 4:45 p.m. on November 14th. The link and additional details will be posted here. Thank you for being a part of our journey toward one another and helping shape us into the people we are today. With all our love, Aaron & Tonya

Like many of life’s most precious things, Tonya and Aaron’s story began at a moment when they least expected it. The road that brought them together was a winding one. For Tonya it began in West Palm Beach, Florida, then Connecticut, and finally to North Carolina to be closer to her parents. For Aaron it was Carrboro, the mountains of Boone, and the halls of Congress that set him on his course back home. By the fall of 2018, Charlotte, North Carolina was home for both Aaron and Tonya. She was continuing her work as a journalist for ESPN and he was sprinting towards the conclusion of a congressional race in North Carolina’s 9th District. It was thanks to Tonya’s sense of civic duty and Aaron’s inability to concentrate at work that their paths first crossed. Tonya, having just completed a get-out-the-vote canvass for Dan McCready’s congressional campaign, was energized by the idea of moving our country forward. Aaron, having just seen an auburn-haired girl from Florida among the canvass volunteers, was energized by the idea of moving forward with the courtship. The first date couldn’t have been but a week after they met. Aaron was 30 minutes late, but he made up for lost time, introducing Tonya to his entire family only a few weeks following. One month after that, on a sandy beach on Bald Head Island Aaron informed Tonya that one day he intended to marry her and that she may as well plan accordingly. The rest is a happy chapter that is still being written, one that will culminate in wedding bells, happy tears, and all of you. Thanks for being part of our story.

As Aaron's father (and our officiant!) prepared to retire after 30 years as lead pastor of University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, Tonya was helping produce a video to celebrate his ministry. As we wrapped up filming for the day, Aaron led Tonya to the front of the empty sanctuary where, exactly a year before, he had told her he loved her for the first time. On that day a year ago, he explained how special this place was to him, and he wanted his places to be her places, his people to be her people. So it was there in the place where he grew up learning about God's plan for his life that Aaron knelt and asked Tonya to spend the rest of her life with him. Through a joyful sob, she said yes. Waiting upstairs to celebrate were both our parents, Ellie, Andrew and Ezequiel. It was the best day we could have ever asked for.