Our Love Story

I’m so happy to say that today is my 2 year wedding anniversary with the most wonderful guy I’ve ever met! So, in celebration of that I thought I’d share our love story. Over the last months, I’ve realized that I’ve shared very little of our love story and actually forgot to share the wedding photos I promised (so sorry, we’ve had a lot going on!) So, I thought this might be the perfect time for that.

I met my husband online. Yep, that’s right. We emailed for at least a month before we met, and then only got to go on 2 dates before he had to spend a long trip in India for work. We exchanged emails pretty much every day he was gone. When he came back we dated for about 6 weeks and I came to the realization that I desperately needed to work on myself emotionally and needed to take a break in order to do that. I knew I had just broken up with the nicest guy I ever met. He told me he would wait for me….

To my very great surprise, he DID wait for me! Every 6 months or so he would call me and ask me out for dinner. It was almost 2 years later that it stuck for good, I was finally ready. I am so thankful every day that this wonderful patient man was insightful enough to know I was the one for him all that time before, and that he thought the world of me in a time that I didn’t think much of myself or believe in myself. That thought still brings tears to my eyes (seriously, I’m sitting here sniffling away as I write)

He knew long before I did that we were meant for each other. The first time I knew it, we were in Las Vegas. It was our first trip together and we were having dinner in the Paris hotel with some of our friends. I think we had been back together about 3 months at this point. There was an older couple sitting at the table next to us, and when they got up the woman stopped by my side and whispered in my ear “That man loves you so much. You don’t ever let him go.” It took a stranger to get my wake up call, but I will never ever forget that moment. It still gives me the warm fuzzies.

Cut to a year and a half later, we had been living together for over a year, had been talking about getting married for a while, so we knew it was coming. He found out he needed to come back to Finland (his home) for a few years, and of course he wanted me to come with him. While it was most certainly NOT the reason we got married, to save ourselves loads of stress, we got married before moving (I hate that I have to clarify that, but I know in today’s world it does pop into people’s minds)….3 weeks after finding out we would be moving! In the mean time since we had to skip some of those important steps that come with getting married, such as all the parents getting to meet, etc etc, we decided to have our formal wedding this past summer.

In the time we’ve been together he has been everything and more that I ever dreamed of. He’s supportive, he’s loving, he’s kind, he can calm me down if I get worked up over something. He makes me laugh, and he can make me laugh at myself. I never realized how important that would be. He’s my lobster.

The date we celebrate is of course the day that we first said “I do”.

Most of these photos were taken by our wonderful photographer and great friend, Ciming Mei. The wedding was held in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. If you ever visit this little island I highly recommend you visit the places mentioned throughout the post. We had the most wonderful experience.

My hair was done by Esterra Spa. These ladies were so great. They even squeezed me in the day before the wedding for a nail appointment. I had a bad experience at another place and was stressed, and they basically met me at the elevator with a glass of bubbly 20 minutes after I called. How’s that for customer service? Amazing.

My dress was custom ordered from JJ’s house. They did a beautiful job and it fit like a dream!!

Me and my Dad <3

We had the ceremony and reception at Bayfront Bistro. It was a truly beautiful setting and, I might be slightly biased, but it was some of the best wedding food I’ve ever had, that’s for sure!!