Angi and Bre’s Dream Wedding

“Love will find you when you least expect it” You’ve heard it before, we all have. And I’m sure we have all rolled our eyes at such statements and continued to cry tears of self-pity asking ourselves why doesn’t anyone love me?! Well, I am here to tell you right now, love finds you when you least expect it. And also, love at first sight actually exists!!

Now, I’m not talking about the little school girl crush that we all get (ooo! I hope he/she likes me back! Or- oh no, they’re coming, look away! Don’t let them know you’re staring!) I’m talking about full on sweaty palms, weak at the knees, falling head over heels, absolutely stupid kind of love at first sight. I know it exists because it is the story of how I met my future wife, Angi.

It all started on July 9th, 2011. It was the day of Vancouver’s Pride event. I had been walking around the event for about an hour with my friend Rachel before we decided to pay a visit to the Beer Garden. As we walked in, I scoped out the small area and spotted another friend of mine, Kyler, talking to some girls at his table. As I looked a little closer, my heart stopped, seriously, it had to be at least 30 seconds.

“Do you see that girl talking to Kyler?” I asked Rachel, “I’m going to marry her. Let’s go!”

            “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Her? The blonde? No, hun. She’s WAY out of your league!” Rachel replied as she grabbed my arm. But I kept going.

            I remember shaking. I had a lump in my throat. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her…which became extremely apparent when I bumped into an empty chair at their table. My beer spilled everywhere! The whole table, the chair, myself. Awesome. I proceeded to clean up my mess by wiping the beer off the table with my hand, then wiping my hand on my jeans and leaning the chair on the table to dry. What can I say? I am my own definition of classy.

            The following couple of hours are kind of blurry in my mind. Between the heat, the beer, the whiskey, and the love struck feelings, I was feeling pretty damn good. I know that for almost the whole day/night, I kept calling by her friend Shannon’s name. I know I stole her chair, and her shoe (?) and gave her a back massage…I really wish she would jump in here and tell you her side of the story.

            Vancouver Gay Pride Coronation was that night at the Eagles Lodge. Angi’s date had just left, leaving me the opportunity of a lifetime (I didn’t mention her date before b/c she was only in the picture for 2 seconds to say goodbye)!  We all walked up to Angi’s car to put her raffle prizes away before heading to the Lodge. Her little 2001 VW Beetle was parked outside the St. James Catholic Church. We both had been drinking which means we both had to pee. At this point, I was feeling a little buzzed, but that’s no excuse for what happens next, because I’d do it sober. We walked around the back of the church, dropped trow and peed together. I’m going to insert an LOL here, because you might have to know us to understand why this is completely normal for us, but it’s still funny.

            Next was the walk back to Coronation. I can’t tell you the number of butterflies that were floating in my stomach, or that I wasn’t embarrassed at the amount of sweat on my palms when I reached for her hand, but what I can tell you is that my heart flipped. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to feel her. I had to touch her, be close to her. I pulled her in and I kissed her. We must have stood there, interlocked on that sidewalk for what seems like a lifetime. I have never felt anything like this before.  I knew at that moment that that was it.

            As the night went on, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. Making out every chance we could, and not giving a damn who was there watching. No one else mattered that night.

            Eventually we had to say our goodbyes, and exchanged phone numbers. We agreed to meet again the next Friday. 6 days. That seemed like forever away! But we could do it…So we thought. I hitchhiked back to Hood River the next day. I told my little sister all about the girl I am going to marry. I described her in every drunk detail that I could remember. Angi and text each other for 4 days. Neither one of us could take it anymore. She says she tried talking herself out of it, telling herself that I was too young (25 to her 39 at the time), It couldn’t work. But, I got my way. Angi came to pick me up that day. That 6 days was the longest we have ever been apart in over 2 yrs.

            We have so much in common, we have a love that we enjoy sharing with others, we enjoy each other’s company, and we both love to laugh. We are amazing. And I can say that because I’vebeen with some not so very awesome people and it sucks. But this? This is what love is all about.

            We have moved into a bigger house, we have adopted a dog, we have gone watch her son graduate, and we have made it through some personal struggles together. I never have to doubt our love. It’s there. People have actually said to us “I want a relationship like yours, I want that strong love, that best friend like you guys have”.

            We have been engaged for a year now. Our wedding date is set for Aug 23rd 2014. We bought her wedding dress last month and have started on the wedding decorations. Our theme is rustic/outdoor. We are doing everything on a budget, from having people bring their own chairs (those are $2.50 a pop!), to having a potluck style for food, and we are even making the paper for our invitations. I know it sounds like we are just cheapskates, but its actually really nice being able to say that everything is made with love, because it is.