Ceremony Archives

Christian and Meghan first ran into each other on a street corner in Geneva, Switzerland. And when I say ran into each other, I mean they literally collided with one another as they each rounded the street corner. It was early morning, and the two had just wrapped up an evening of dancing and revelry with their respective groups of friends. Christian was on his way to find a breakfast with strong hangover prevention properties, while Meghan was en route to the nearby lakefront for an early morning dip. Christian was wearing his favorite yellow hoodie, and Meghan was wearing her only yellow cardigan. (My yellow tie is to commemorate the occasion of their meeting.) Meghan got her bearings quickly after the collision, gave her very brief acquaintance the once over, and thought to herself – good looking guy, we're both wearing yellow – why not ask him to join me for a swim? Christian graciously accepted the offer, but only to accompany her on the excursion to the lake and not the exercise of swimming itself – Meghan only learned later of his extreme aversion to cold. And so the two chatted while Meghan swam and Christian kept an eye on her belongings. When she finished, gentleman that he his, Christian offered her his hoodie to warm her up. He then invited her back to his place to throw her wet clothes in the tumble dryer. He was growing rather fond of his new friend, and wanted to keep chatting her up. And, in the event that he was totally misreading the vibe, he wanted to at least make sure he got his favorite yellow hoodie back. Which he did. With a wife inside.

I don't know the origin of the term meet-cute – I just know that it makes me cringe every time I hear it. But I have to admit... Jake and Cara met, and it was pretty damn cute. It was August 10th, 2018. All Time Low was playing Jacob's Pavilion. Cara, along with her mom, Kelly, and siblings, Mia and Oliver, sat down behind Jake, who was there alone, and the show began. Both had noticed the other. Jake assumed a girl as stunning as Cara was spoken for, and vice versa. The romantic tension was running high. Toward the end of the show, the band's lead singer suggested finding a pal to hoist on one's shoulders. Jake had two shoulders and a pretty girl to hop on them with ease, directly behind him. And that's exactly what happened. The two introduced themselves after that bit of revelry, and you can see how well it worked out. 

Four years ago, Nick and Amanda were strangers that found themselves, by invitation of previously undiscovered mutual friend, at the same house party. It was here that they first made each other’s acquaintance. And while there was a spark – at least, from his perspective if not hers – it did not ignite the romance that brought them here today. Fate, it seemed, had decided that it was not yet their time. A year or so later, Nick told me he “stumbled across her Instagram page and started following her, naturally liking EVERY ONE of her photos.” I like that he used the word “stumble” rather than another word that begins with the letter S, and I like that Amanda didn’t find Nick’s sudden and overwhelming approval of her ALL of her photos to be off-putting. In fact, it was the start of a dialogue between the two, which led them to make plans to meet up again. They told me that, from that moment on, they became best friends. It was quite some time before they declared their love for each other. Perhaps they simply found the joy of their effortless camaraderie so enjoyable that they wanted to explore its depths first before moving on to the next level. Perhaps they were afraid that jumping blindly into a relationship might risk ruining the friendship that they treasured so deeply. But eventually, Nick proclaimed his love in a most chivalrous manner. “I love your ass,” he told her. “Would you like to touch it?” she replied. And here we stand today. 

As many of you well know, we stand here today in the presence of rock and roll greatness. In front of me and to my left stands one half of the rock outfit known as The Missing, with one Rick Ksiazka on bass and one Christopher Marinin on guitar and lead vocals. And in front of me and to my right stands, inarguably, The Missing's biggest fans – the lovely Tarra and Christopher's sisters Julie and Jill. It was amid this group that Rick and Tarra first got to know one another. Tarra referred to the three of them as the “cool younger sisters” that followed the band avidly while they were in their mid-teens, but says it wasn't until she turned 21 that she and Rick really got to know each other because, in her words, that was when “I was actually able to drink and party with the band.” For over a decade, it was clear to everyone that the two shared a deep attraction, but fate had other plans for them for well over a decade after they'd met – neither of them ever seemed to be single at the same time. But the two used this time wisely, nurturing a deep and meaningful friendship while they found their way to this beautiful moment in their lives today.

Ben and Belles first made each other's acquaintance by way of a mutual friend, shouting words of introduction to each other over the din of a punk band at a dive bar. Their romance was slow to take shape, but it was built on the veritable pillars of every epic romance – illegally launched fireworks, grueling chess matches, nocturnal skateboarding tours and archaeological digs. There is, of course, much more to their story, and they told it to me with a tenderness and reverence that suggests they've known and loved each other for a lifetime, and not merely a decade. Yet it took many months for their friendship to develop into the love story that culminates in the union we bear witness to today. It is this friendship that served as the wellspring of your romance, and will continue to serve as the foundation of your marriage. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was not well known for his observations on love, but he did have one particularly trenchant insight I think is fitting here: “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” I think you’ve got both in spades, and therefore, much to look forward to.

As a culture we tend to imagine the world’s great love stories begin in luxurious or unusual places, like a café in Paris or a white sand beach in the Caribbean. But love isn’t picky about where it chooses to manifest itself. For Nick and Laura, it was downright banal – it was at the office. And while the setting may have been commonplace, the journey that led them here is a fascinating one. They met a decade ago, when Nick's new job and Laura's internship had a brief months-long overlap. And when her internship ended, it took them six years to reconnect at that same office. Perhaps the only disappointment in their relationship was realizing what they'd been missing all those years. That relationship endured an amazing trial when Laura was offered what she describes as her dream job – in Austin, Texas. The two decided that neither their burgeoning romance nor this dream job were opportunities they could ignore, and so they made the thing work that everyone will tell you never does – the long distance relationship. Here's how they described it to me: “It was tough as (let's say fudge) but we endured and grew even closer despite the thousand-some miles between us.” The Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran once stated a beautiful truth that Nick and Laura know all too well: “Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”

Gabe and Andrea have spent a lot of years, they tell me, not really knowing each other. Just knowing of each other. They went to Kent Roosevelt together. Gabe ran track and was pals with Andrea's younger brother Ethan. Andrea's mom Sandra almost bought a house a stone's throw from Gabe's. They made small talk now and again at the Target where Andrea worked. It was 2017 by now, and Gabe was away at college. He FaceTimed a friend back home and guess who crashed the call? They tell me that this was when their romance finally began to take shape. And the shape it finally took, they tell me, was one of devotion and certainty. There's a quote Gabe and Andrea asked me to share with you, from Robert James Waller's novel The Bridges of Madison County, that captures the essence of those feelings quite nicely: “In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live.” They decided, ultimately, to not let such certainty pass them by. 

The date: Australia Day, 2010. The place: a party at Angelo State University, thrown by Jason's American baseball teammates in honor of his Australian heritage. Jaci arrived and Jason, fairly full of liquid courage at that point, began chatting her up. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history. As their romance unfolded, setting the stage for the happy occasion we celebrate today, Jason's college studies took him away for several months this year and last. Jaci sent him away with this message, in a double photo frame with pictures of the two of them: "The scariest feeling in the world is giving your heart away to someone else. The greatest feeling in the world is knowing that the person I'm giving it to is you.” But that fear is gone now, and has given way to certainty – the certainty that you have each given your heart to the right person.