"Want to get coffee and talk about art song sometime?"

Never has a more perfect pickup line been uttered -- at least not if the recipient is Hayley Grigg.

Zach and Hayley met in the University of Central Oklahoma School of Music in 2013, when she was working on her master's and he was working on his bachelor's. They knew each other for many years as friends, colleagues, and scene partners in operas. Their paths were heading different directions until the world stopped.

Literally, with Covid.

Isolating, grueling, maddening -- especially for musicians who were planning on far-flung careers of performing and academia. Momentum halted, careers paused with dubious hope that they'd resume. Disconnected from people, from music, from connection.

Cue the legendary pickup line.

And a coffee date at Ellis Island Coffee (where we will have our reception.) And a feeling of "oh, you get me. You GET this situation."

And an urgency to keep the connection going. Urgent enough that Hayley asked Zach to dinner the next day. (Hayley is a spaz with zero chill in her flirting game.)

And very soon, a friendship and blossoming romance that would take us to levels of understanding and support that became oxygen--for ourselves as individuals and as a couple.

Steps taken to heal, to become whole, to find a way to deal with the world. Shared tastes in culture, art, philosophy, humor. Common goals, celebrations, and struggles. And love. So, so much love.

And as we look into the future and decide what marriage mean to us, we do so knowing we've been forged in fire in our early, formative years. We're stronger for our struggles. We've grown together. And we're so, so ready for the adventures ahead, knowing that no matter what we may face, we will do so with the best partner at our side.

Registry