Abbey&Drew: Romantic Spontaneity in NYC

I’m at the point of life where if I don’t see news of a newly-engaged couple on a Monday morning through my Facebook newsfeed, I think Facebook is experiencing a bug. (Don’t get me wrong: I love it. I may joke that I don’t, but deep down inside, I do. Ha, no pun intended.)
It’s a good thing I love mail because save the dates, bridal shower invites, wedding invitations/kankotris, thank you cards and even the occasional baby shower invite (not going to lie, those still do kind of throw me off) flood my mailbox. But on Sunday, I received a type of announcement I had never received before: an elopement announcement! (Or maybe it’s just called a marriage announcement? Idk, it’s my first one!)

I met Abbey through work and we became friends as we continued to work together and our fantastic Vietnamese students (more on that another day). Her and Drew got engaged earlier last year and were planning a 2012 wedding. Originally set for Italy, they had bounced a few wedding ideas around and landed on a summer wedding in Portland with a brunch reception at their favourite restaurant. A little overwhelmed with wedding planning, they escaped to the Big Apple over the holidays for some rest, relaxation and adventure. What was meant to be an escape from the wedding planning chaos turned into the perfect romantic wedding for them. (This is my short version, you’ll have to check out the real story from the couple themselves.) I will say that hearing their story made me get even more excited about #53 on my Bucket List: Become an officiant/officiate a wedding 🙂

I know how busy and overwhelming wedding planning can be (I did a summer internship as a South Asian wedding planner), but like I learned from SATC, it’s not about the wedding, it’s about the marriage. The details, the planning, the costs, the people, the time–it can all be a lot. As much as people joke about wanting to just get married on their own without the big wedding, very few actually do. I’m so glad Abbey and Drew found their happily ever after. I know a few couples who are probably wishing they had or they could do the same (find their happily ever after and have an intimate little ceremony). Maybe this is the first of several elopement (marriage?) announcements I receive–or maybe it’s the one and only. Either way, congratulations you guys!