“Where are you from?” The easy icebreaker question was an awkward tumble of words for Annabelle until she landed on a tightly rehearsed elevator pitch.

“I was a military kid, so I grew up all over. I was born in Colorado and my parents are from Texas. But I’ve lived in NYC for the past eight years, so it’s home.” Without having to rattle off the different states, countries, and boroughs the main idea gets across. Liam’s answer was a bit easier (LA) but he always included with pride that he was born in NYC and hoped to move back one day.

After years of long-distance dating, NYC solidified as home for us as a couple when Liam moved here. With his consistent homemade sourdough, he brought predictable routines (and our sweet pup, Dobby) to the rat race. And after he proposed at the most magical place in the city (The Met!), we immediately started planning a celebration in our favorite city.

For all the beauty, sparkle, and magic - New York has one undeniable downfall. Everything is expensive and wedding venues are no exception. After checking hundreds of options in the city, upstate, and even surrounding states we slowly accepted that the NYC dream wedding wasn’t our reality (unless Dobby decided to start laying golden eggs). We turned our eye to Liam’s childhood home of LA, but unsurprisingly the luck there was similar.

After bargaining reached acceptance we went back to that question of “where are you from?” It’s often followed up with “what was your favorite palace that you lived?” Without hesitation, Annabelle’s answer is Germany.

Liam also treasures his childhood European adventures; our love of different cultures is something that drew us together early on. So, with low expectations, we pivoted our venue research and were pleasantly surprised by the cultural differences that made weddings more financially accessible in Europe.

New York City is where Annabelle grew into an adult and Los Angeles was the idyllic background for Liam’s childhood. In their own ways, they’re home. But as we morph into our own little family, we’ve found home to be more and more a sense than a place.

We adjusted our search to capture that feeling of home - Europe (for Annabelle) France (for Liam) in the mountains (for both). We found a venue we love in the mountains.

But, while more affordable, the European option came with a different cost. We sadly cannot host everyone we would love to as small ceremonies were required. Additionally, we didn’t want to put the pressure of international travel on our extended families. Our ceremony will be very intimate with our immediate family and bridal party.

We wanted to express that, while we can’t celebrate with everyone we would love to in person, we hope you still feel our love and inclusion throughout our first steps into marriage. If you’re reading this letter, you’re someone we’ve identified as an impactful and beloved part of our lives. We’re eternally thankful for you and the role you’ve played in growing us into the people we are. You’re so loved by us and part of our sense of home which we will carry with us. Thank you for being in our lives.

If you wish to stay close to our celebration, please feel free to reach out with advice, encouragement, or any other wisdom. If service permits, we hope to provide a Zoom Link on this wedding website and will post a video of the ceremony. You can also find more about our celebration there and we’ll share pictures and videos after the ceremony. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly as well.

With all our love and thankfulness,

Annabelle & Liam

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