The Wedding

Hey! So it's been a while since you've heard from me. I've been busy with a thing or two, like getting married! So yes, I took some time off away from writing because there was so much wedding planning to accomplish. That, mixed with work and other responsibilities, meant that things like writing small novelty newsletter issues fell by the wayside.

But that's a small price to ensure you have a fantastic day when you marry your best friend. 🥰 🤷🏼‍♂️ There isn't going to be much, if any, tech in this issue, but it'll be a good one!

The Venue

So the wedding day went off without any major issues! Our venue was laid out beautifully with all the rustic flowers, decor, and looks that would make a lumberjack weep with joy. Bridget and our vendors did an incredible job of planning the event's layout and floral arrangements to bring to life our shared appreciation for nature.

It also helped that the Friday wedding put up a bunch of vining greenery around the interior pillars of the hall and left them there for us to use. Bridget was stoked because it was something she initially wanted, but that was out of the budget.

Out of This World Experience

The weather was slightly overcast, which was really helpful for the ceremony and pictures. If you know me, I hate the heat, and so the cool, 65-degree weather was a blessing by itself. Fortunately, the rain held off, probably because I was checking the radar on my phone every 15 minutes that morning to see if I had to make the call to move everything indoors - which, thankfully, we didn't!

The ceremony was incredible, and I hope our guests also enjoyed it. There is nothing like walking up that aisle knowing that it will be the most special day of your life. I honestly can't explain the overflow of emotions I experienced in those moments leading up to the ceremony. It only got more difficult to maintain composure when the procession music started.

For those who might not know, I am a big video game nerd, and I love well-done video game soundtracks - to the point where my bike rides are exclusive to Zelda & Pokemon songs 😅 . One of my favorite games is Outer Wilds (no, not The Outer Worlds). It has one of the most genuinely incredible soundtracks to a game; maybe that's due to the unspoken emotion expressed connected to each song as you play through the game. I encourage anyone interested in video games or art to give it a play-through!

A while back, Bridget & I were sitting at the Treadwell Bar in downtown Manhattan, and we were going over what we considered to be the songs that make us the most emotional. This activity was partially to plan songs for the wedding, but it was also just for fun.

Bridget mentioned The Avatar's Love from Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is an excellent choice for a list of emotional songs. So for my turn, I suggested the song 14.3 Billion Years, one of the title songs from Outer Wilds, the game that I mentioned earlier, and I encouraged her to listen to all 5+ minutes of it, which she begrudgingly did.

Time passed, and Bridget informed me that she had settled on the songs for the ceremony and told me not to worry about it any further. So then next came the wedding day, and as we were lining up to start the ceremony, there's my song... 😭

She cut out the sci-fi parts between 2:12 and 3:09, but the song was timed so that myself & the wedding party walked down to the calmer, quieter piano and violin pieces, but then Bridget emerged right at the crescendo of around 3:20 and started walking as all of the instruments joined.

Seriously, listen to the song now if you don't know it - you can skip 2:12 - 3:09 even though it's still good - and while listening to it, imagine being in my position up in front of the ceremony.

Look, I have never been one to be "weak in the knees," but By Golly! There is almost an out-of-body experience when you are standing in front of 180 people, and you see your best friend, your fiancé, the person you connect with the most coming towards you for what will be your wedding. Standing up there while a song that deeply moves you is being blasted all around, like the soundtrack to your own life movie, is something that doesn't happen very often, if ever.

There are no words for this, and I wish I took in that moment more completely, instead of being nervous, because I long for that level of pure, unfiltered joy again - even though I'm sure we'll have as much joy as we can in our lives without any issue. 😃

At that moment, I had the most euphoric rush of love and happiness I've experienced in my life, and I have been carrying those feelings with me every day since the wedding. So I just wanted to share it because I think it was an extraordinary moment that will stick with me forever - and also because our songs are pretty awesome, lol.

I know this wasn't my usual newsletter structure, but this was a significant life event, and that moment of reveal at the start of the ceremony is something I haven't been able to shake from my mind since it happened.

Video Wrap-Up

The wedding was incredible, and I could talk about it forever, but people probably don't care that much, so instead, here's a little summary.

If you want to check out the wedding video I made using shots by our fantastic photographer, you can click this link or click the image below. It's only three minutes and it's cute, especially the end, so check it out, please!

Kudos

There are too many Thank You's to offer, but I'd like to list a few below because of just how thankful we are for these individuals.

• Tony, Rachel, & Jesse for organizing a lot around the wedding and for giving some of the best speeches I've heard to date
• Mason for officiating the wedding. It meant the world to have our oldest mutual friend up there with us on our special day, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
• Our parents for supporting us through the years and for guiding us through the wedding planning
• Our extended families for being super awesome all the time and for supporting us through all of our milestones, including the wedding
• All my NYC friends and colleagues for making the trip out to Buffalo to celebrate with us
• And, of course, thank you, Bridget, for giving the weird, nerdy kid a chance to go to a Bills game with you so we could get married almost seven years later. I'm excited about the life we have ahead of us ❤️
• The vendors who made this day possible
  • Our photographer, Janel Sealander, whose photos were awesome throughout the entire process
  • Mike & Joey over at ToyBros, who had the dance floor full all night long. Honestly, it was crazy how packed it was constantly.
  • The Timberlodge for being a beautiful venue that hosted the event
  • The flowers made by 1824 Farmhouse were beautiful and are now on display in our apartment

Thanks for reading!

Take care everyone