WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!

This site has all the info you need to come celebrate with us for the weekend in Orlando. Please check back as it will be updated frequently!

The meet cute(s)

By Abe

I will always remember the first time I saw Meredith. She had just walked into the brewery where we were both attending a board game meetup. I couldn't have told you what it was, but I knew I needed to get to know her more. Was it a great idea to tell her my life story on the first night? Maybe not... Was asking her out a few weeks later a better idea? No, but I look back on it fondly.

Meredith and I spent the next few months becoming life-long friends. From board game nights, to weekly Hawkeye watch parties, to IKEA trips, we started to hang out more and more. Meredith was there as I went on a desperate quest to recreate the perfect Taylor Ham, Egg, & Cheese sandwich (the secret was importing New Jersey bagels.) We decorated my new apartment for Christmas together (I have a better eye for color, but no one tinsels like Meredith.) We started a quasi legal scooter gang, scooting from brewery to brewery around Orlando. 

As the months went by I realized I was feeling like our relationship was more than a friendship. After a short torturous wait, Meredith realized I was totally right. The rest as they say, is history.

The Proposal

By Meredith

My #1 request for Abe's proposal was that I wanted to be surprised, and he definitely delivered on that and so much more - it was perfect.

Abe bothered me for at least 2 weeks to be fully packed for our France trip the weekend before, so that the night before we left we could relax and play a game together instead of "running around like chickens with our heads cut off". "We haven't played Terraforming Mars in while," he dropped casually the night of. Maybe playing it for over 30 cumulative hours in 2023 burnt us out on it? Nah! 

We got it to the table and if you can believe this, Abe didn't terraform Mars a single bit in the entire first hour of playing - I was crushing him, actually. Go me! Little did I know, he was saving up to play a very special card that had slipped from his pocket into his hand in round 1 of the game - a custom card that he commissioned artwork for and designed just for me (see above).

He queued up our song before his next turn, and paid his 25 Megacredits to play "Sudden Proposal". With him down on one knee and opening the ring box, I was so excited that I forgot to say yes. I think I slid the ring onto my finger before he even finished speaking. The rest is history, and no, we didn't put away the unfinished game until we got home from France 12 days later.

The Claddagh Ring

Meaning

The Claddagh symbolizes love, loyalty, and friendship: the central heart represents love, the hands holding it represent friendship, and the crown atop represents loyalty. 

Meredith is currently wearing her ring on the left hand with the tip of the heart pointing towards the end of her ring finger, symbolizing engagement. During the wedding ceremony, Meredith will put the ring on her left ring finger with the tip of the heart pointing towards her own heart, symbolizing marriage.

History

The Claddagh ring originates from the fishing village of Claddagh near Galway, Ireland. Its creation is attributed to Richard Joyce, a Galway villager trained as a goldsmith. According to tradition, the Claddagh ring is worn to signify the wish that love and friendship should reign supreme.