" My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. "
Jane Austen - Pride & Prejudice (1813)
We're ENGAGED!!!
Our elopement story starts with the day I said "YES". On March 2nd, 2021, my husband proposed to me in our pajamas, at my dad's home. I know what you are thinking, "that doesn't sound so romantic", but here's the thing about getting engaged, YOU WILL BE HAPPY NO MATTER HOW IT HAPPENS. I found out later that the ring had gotten lost in the mail due to a snow storm in Tennessee. Apparently, my husband went back and forth with his thoughts and once the ring finally got to Mississippi, he still was unsure of when or how do "pop the question", because he was scheduled to leave for work and would be gone for months. After a quick chat with his parents after he got the ring, he decided that there is never a perfect time. So, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I, of course, said "YES!!!" and we were officially engaged.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TELL THE WORLD
Telling everyone about our engagement almost came as a burden to me immediately. Thankfully, one of my dear friends advised us both not to post anything on social media until we were ready. At first you might go, well why wouldn't you post, its a huge moment in your life, let everyone celebrate. The truth was, I got overwhelmed and for the handful of family and friends that we were telling, we were getting all the same questions right out the gate. So, we decided together that we would tell people organically and if an authentic moment came along in the next month where one or both of us wanted to share it with the world, then that would be okay.
We also decided that we were not in any rush for the wedding itself and just wanted to enjoy this new chapter in our lives. Now, keep in mind, my husband is Canadian and my family is from the south eastern part of the United States and it was currently March of 2021. COVID-19 was still hugely impacting our lives. Masks, travel restrictions, family accommodations, you name it, we were still experiencing all of it and had no intention of letting that all get in the way, or so we thought.
Hey, let's just go to Vegas!
We were BARELY a month into our engagement and life was beginning to change. Adam's work situation was changing quickly and potentially going to take my husband back to Canada. He hadn't gotten fully approved of the H1B visa and we already signed a lease for an apartment in Boston. It was all becoming a little bit messy and truthfully, we were getting worried. We Facetimed on Monday, March 29th, 2021 and our conversation was intense. Adam explained the massive job changes and how within the next 3 months he was potentially going to have to go back to Canada. Being concerned about what our immediate future would look like, we started talking about the potential of eloping and if it was something we really wanted to explore. The big piece that was lingering over us was knowing that we wanting to elope because WE wanted to, not because life needed us to. So we slept on that thought and decided to talk more the next day.
We chatted again the next night, to which we were figuring out that we were really serious about eloping together. I took the entire day researching options, places, courthouses, everything to know we were on the same page about expectations. I was as prepared for our conversation as I could be and come to find out, our roommates had eloped in Vegas years before us. We hadn't completely considered Vegas at that point, but now it was on the table and through my research we had the availability to go on the up coming weekend. At the end of our Facetime that evening, we said "... okay, lets sleep on it. If we both wake up and are on board, lets just do it." and thats what we did. I also went to my father and asked his opinion on our thoughts, to which he said "I love and support y'all no matter the decision you choose".
The next morning, Wednesday, March 31st, 2021, I knew I was on board. It did not matter to me if we waited and it did not matter to me if we went the next day to the court house. I knew that Adam and I were going to be together forever, no matter when we got to seal it with a marriage license. We chatted at 6AM and he said "well are we doing this thing?", to which my response was "lets do it." We were going to elope that weekend, in Vegas on 4-3-21.
Wednesday - Thursday
P L A N N I N G
3 days & counting until wedding day
01.
Hotel, travel, reservations
We split up the task and we each had to book our own flights, but Adam took care of the hotel, any transportation reservations, things to do, and miscellaneous stuff. He was still working full-time and it did not make sense to put more on his plate, so we agreed that besides those few things, I would plan the rest of the elopement process.
BOOKED!
02.
Venue, photographer, food
No family or friends, so how were we going to do this. We both LOVE our families and them not being there was the hardest part of this whole thing, but we found a way. The venue had live streaming, so all of our friends and family could watch us get married. The venue did all the decorating and came with a photographer, PERFECT!
BOOKED!
03.
The dress, the suit,
The rings
But what was I going to wear? I didn't know about getting a wedding dress, but I figured I would look. Sure enough, I found a dress and cried, my sister surprised me and showed up and it was perfect. My father also got to be a part of that moment too. As for the rings, well Walmart was the best I could do in a short time frame.
BOOKED!
04.
Ready... steady...
skydive & Hockey?
Everything was ready to go. I would fly out Friday afternoon to meet up with Adam in Vegas. We knew we had to get our marriage certificate that afternoon/evening and it was all falling into place. Speaking of falling, my husband booked us a skydiving trip the morning of our ceremony and a hockey game to follow the ceremony.
BOOKED....!?
4-3-21
OUR WEDDING DAY!
Finding out that we were definitely going skydiving was ABSOLUTELY terrifying. I am not afraid of a lot of things, but this one was challenging my sanity. Adam wanted to do this so badly, and even though I could have said no, I wanted our day to be something we both remembered. We got back to the hotel at 1:30am after getting our marriage certificate and we immediately crashed.
Itinerary for wedding day:
- 5:30am - Wake up
- 7:00am - Shuttle to skydiving location
- 9:00am - Jump out of plane
- 3:15pm - limo picks up groom at hotel
- 3:30pm - limo picks up bride at hotel
- 4:00pm - Ceremony starts
- Pictures to follow
- 6:00pm - Knights hockey game
Our day was PACKED!! I had a panic attack in the shower before we went to skydive, we jumped out of a plane, had a perfect ceremony, took some okay-ish photos, and then we realized something. WE NEEDED TO EAT! We definitely forgot this step after the ceremony because we were going to the hockey game. We went back to the hotel and just changed our shoes, stayed in our wedding attire and walked to the arena. On the way we stopped at our FAVORITE spot and it reminded us of how our relationship started, we stopped at Eataly. Shared a tiramisu (there's a story behind that) and then went to the hockey game.
We enjoyed the hell out of our elopement weekend. Everything we did was on our schedule, no one else to consider, and we made the entire trip so memorable that we still talk about it today. Looking back, I still would not change a thing. I love the man I married and so does everyone else in my life. Sometimes, life doesn't go exactly how you think it will, but now I understand what true intimacy is. When there's no one left, but you and your partner, you choose them. You choose to love them, support them, and grow every day with them.
I choose you Adam.
I love you Adam!
