Our Story

Every wedding is one day. This is everything that led to it, told in chapters, the way it happened.

2018

The Meeting

It started somewhere completely ordinary: Ryan's apartment at WSU, September of 2018. His roommate Alondra introduced them. Neither of them can tell you what they talked about that night, though they both agree Ryan was doing more of the talking than he should have been.

Then Tay left for the Dominican Republic, and the whole thing had to wait. The day after she landed back in Pullman, Ryan asked if she wanted to hang out.

She picked the movie. They saw Hereditary at the campus theatre. Ryan asked if he could put his arm around her, then mentioned it wasn't really that scary — a lie told for reasons that were obvious to everyone but him. That's the night they count as the start.

Ryan and Tay

Pullman, 2018

2019

The First Adventure

The next year they drove north to Whistler to ski, which was ambitious, because Tay had never skied and Ryan hadn't in years. They rode the chairlift exactly once. Tay took a spectacular spill. Somewhere below that, they admitted defeat, unclipped their skis, and walked the rest of the way down in complete silence.

Then they got to the village and ate crepes, and they were so good that they retroactively fixed the entire day. They still talk about them. They have also promised each other, every year since, that they are going back to conquer Whistler Blackcomb.

Ryan and Tay

Whistler, British Columbia · saved by the crepes

"We lost to a mountain and came home planning the next trip. That's basically the whole relationship."
Ryan
2022

Building a Life

In 2022 Tay moved in. The two of them, plus Champ and Blue (who needed a few weeks to forgive them), squeezed into a small studio at Griffis Lake Washington in Renton. It was tight.

They learned each other's routines out of sheer proximity: whose coffee got made first, who won the closet, which cat claimed which corner. It turns out a small place is a good place to figure out you want a much bigger life together.

Ryan and Tay

Griffis Lake Washington · Renton

2023–24

Passports and Holidays

Mexico came first, in 2023. Ryan's Spanish turned out to be worse than advertised, the rental car took longer than the flight, and the drive to the resort felt endless. Then someone handed them each a glass of champagne and they just laughed, out of pure relief, at nothing at all.

That December Ryan spent Christmas with Tay's family, which is its own kind of milestone. Then London in 2024, another stamp, another list of places they still owe themselves.

Ryan and Tay traveling

Mexico, 2023 · London, 2024

Chapter Five · 2025

The Question

November of 2025. Tokyo. A restaurant called The Peter. Tay carried the ring in her own bag for the mile-long walk there and had no idea. They spent that walk talking about the future, where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do, and Ryan had never been more sure of an answer to a question he hadn't asked yet.

He excused himself to the restroom, changed into a black suit, forgot how to tie his tie, and came back to the table while the waiter very generously kept her talking. Then he knelt down. Neither of them remembers a single thing they ate. They remember everything else.

2027

The Best Chapter Yet

Which brings us to a terrace in Newcastle on the 17th of July: a sunset, a city skyline, and every person we love in one place. The only thing missing from this chapter is you.

See the Day's Timeline Photos