Julia + Andrew || Fort Collins, Colorado

Today

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,

so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw

open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,

indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths

and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight

that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight

on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants

from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,

holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,

well, today is just that kind of day.

-Billy Collins

I don't know how I get so lucky to continually meet such deeply in-love and passionate people, but I am so thankful that the universe keeps delivering them to me. Julia and Andrew had the most beautiful elopement with their closest friends and family in attendance in the foothills above Fort Collins, and it couldn't have been more perfect!

On dating:

Andrew: There was a time about a year before we started to date where Julia and her roommates threw a party at their house. The party was pretty fun but as it started to wane I offered to Julia to come with me to another party I knew of down the street. We went and were there for about 20 minutes until the police showed up. As we fled the home mother nature struck with a down poor. Julia and I were buzzed, running through Fort Collins backyards sliding around in the mud, soaking wet, and laughing. We were cruising along when we came to a fence. I leaped over with an alcohol-fueled youthful exuberance. I paused and waited for Julia- she leapt but didn't quite clear it. She clipped her foot on the top of the fence and began to fall. This was my moment to be a hero. I sprinted towards her and baseball slid like I was trying to score the winning run. I cruised in underneath her and caught her before she fell- and we had our first kiss.The rain, the mud, lighting striking, the roar of thunder, and the mysterious girl from Alaska- it was kismet.

Julia: Suehiro sushi was officially our first date. Andrew and I had been hanging out a lot after my return from living abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So he asked me out. It went great. We were already really comfortable with each other, but I could tell he was a little nervous. We were sitting in the back, at the traditional seating where you sit on the floor. I don't remember why but he slammed his water glass down really hard on the table to prove some point, and it felt like everyone in the dining room just stopped and stared at us. I erupted with laughter and I could tell he was relieved that I wasn't embarrassed. I love how hard he can make me laugh still.

Andrew and I spent a lot of time together, we went on long walks, he convinced me to get a bike so we could bike together, we loved discovering new music together, he cooked pasta for me, we went to the lyric and watched independent films often. Things were comfortable and easy; our lives fit together. It just felt right.We made room for each other. We had mutual respect, lots of laughter, and a sense of adventure in everyday life. He was the first person I imagined having children with, sharing a life with.

On their Engagement:

Julia: Andrew and I love Fort Collins, and seize any opportunity that will take us up the I-25 to a place that still feels like home. I was applying to PhD programs, so Andrew and I decided to take a trip to Fort Collins to chat with a few professors (March 2015). One day we were hanging out in the Oval on campus, waiting for the gym to open so we could practice yoga, and he said he was going to go for a bike ride. A while later he was calling to me to come look at a squirrel or something in the middle of the oval, I went to him and he knelt to one knee. His words were so sweet and thoughtful.

Andrew: I asked her in Fort Collins at the Oval on CSU's campus. I asked her right in the center of the oval where all the sidewalks meet into one. To me this symbolized our path to one another. The universe conspired to bring a boy from the Chicago and beauty from eagle river, AK to meet the 1st day of college at 18 yrs old. At 27 all the paths led back to the center of the oval, the center of my soul, the center of our new life together. At the center all the paths lead in different directions. I wanted to explore them all with her by my side.

The wedding day: They started the day by getting ready at the cute boutique Armstrong Hotel in Old Town. From downtown Fort Collins we wound our way up to Horsetooth Reservoir for their intimate wedding on the hills overlooking the water. After a sweet and meaningful ceremony, based on the 8 limbs of yoga symbolized by bright stones placed together into a singing bowl, and personal vows written by the couple, we ended at Jay's Bistro for an intimate dinner with the friends and family in attendance.

I am so honored to have been involved in this amazing day with these two - to get to know their family, and to be included in the love they share- it truly is a special thing.