Jessica + Walden, W is for "Will you marry me?"

Their Story: Jessica was just about to delete her online dating account when she got a notification that she had an email. “It had to be one of the sincerest requests that I had read in a long time” Jessica remembers writing a response and then waiting. She waited about a month without hearing anything back. Upon further investigation, Jessica realized that she never actually clicked “send” the first time. She quickly took steps to remedy the situation and a week later found herself meeting Walden for their first date.

The risks of meeting a stranger (whom she met online) so soon, were not lost on Jessica. To minimize the inevitable I told you so’s from friends, Jessica chose to meet at Red Robin at the local mall, then made sure to tell a couple friends where she was going to be.  

Jessica dressed to emphasis the casualness of her expectations, “I felt so under dressed. Here I am thinking casual, a good pair of jeans, a fun t-shirt and a sweater, meanwhile he was in dress pants, a button-down shirt and dress shoes…He held the doors open for me, refused to let me pay, and walked me to my car after the movie.”

Three weeks later, Walden’s mother was in town visiting. Walden invited Jessica to dinner with his mother. “I think that was the moment I really started seeing Jessica as the one I would spend my life with” Walden remembers.

When Jessica was vulnerable enough to share how she had been hurt in the past, what resulted was a very creative and alphabetically-inspired proposal from Walden. Jessica was brave to show up emotionally, and in doing so, she allowed Walden to become her knight in shining armor.

When Walden embraces his inner geek, it allows Jessica to appreciate his adorable quirkiness too.  She says, “he is all that I wanted in a guy, he’s my north star.” 

Being vulnerable enough to be who you are in front of someone else is very brave.  It is only when we show up in our relationships, in this way, and take this risk, that we allow someone else the opportunity to show up too.  To be there for us when we need it.  To love all of our parts—the polished and the one’s still under construction. Finding someone who, as Walden puts it, “not only tolerates, but openly embraces and supports me. She is simply perfect for me” is something to be celebrated indeed!

For their Wedding Ceremony:

Walden and Jessica wrote and shared their own vows. After exchanging rings, we surprised their guests with a unity ritual using LEGOs. Here’s how we used this favorite toy to talk about marriage and demonstrate Walden and Jessica’s intentions for the future…

“In LEGOs we find a great metaphor for life and also for marriage. LEGOs, like us, come in many different colors, shapes and sizes. Each piece can be used for many different purposes and that purpose can change over time.

Besides providing hours of creative play, LEGOs are used to build robots, vehicles, buildings and even amusement parks. The magic of the design of the LEGO is that they are versatile, adaptable, stick together and can withstand a tremendous amount of pressure. And just like in life, when something you’re building falls apart or conditions change, you can easily gather the pieces and build something better together.

LEGO, the company was inspired by the Danish phrase to “play well”. It is with the intention of laying the foundation for cooperation, teamwork, creativity and playfulness in their marriage, that Walden and Jessica have chosen to express the transformative nature of today’s union by using this beloved toy. 

They have each brought to the ceremony a tower representing themselves.  The purple bricks represent Jessica and her life up until this moment. The blue ones--Walden’s.  Today, these two sections will be joined by a third color red—that they will build together-- representing the life that they will share. 

Keep in mind that with LEGOs, as in life, there is always room for adjustment and additions…”

Then, to the delight of all of their friends and family, the happy couple then turned their attention to building their tower, together.

Jessica and Walden exchanged vows and celebrated the start of their married life at Woodsgate at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn.  A special thanks to Jan of Essence Photography for the use of this image to share Jessica + Walden’s true love story.