Lee Ann & David
Lee Ann & David
in the beginning: 2013
Moving away to college is weird. You're at an odd in-between time in your life. You're 18, riding the high of being the cream of the crop in your small town, and thrust into an environment that is bigger and scarier than you've ever imagined. It makes you feel small. Then someone walks into your life. Someone that changes your entire trajectory, and simultaneously makes you feel larger than life. When Lee Ann & David met on their first day of freshman year at Salem State University in the fall of 2013, neither of them knew how much their trajectories were about to shift, or that this would be the first of thousands of photos taken between the two of them.
On paper, Lee Ann and David probably shouldn't work. At least in 2013. Lee Ann was majoring in Education, and David in Theatre. They were both assigned to live on the Education floor - an entire floor in Bowditch Hall consisting of students majoring in Education. Lee Ann was surrounded by other students who she'd be taking classes with and seeing frequently. David was...just sort of there. Neither Lee Ann or David believe all that much in fate, but if it did exist, the SSU Gods that slapped the two of them on the same floor together, albeit neighbors on the same floor, definitely knew what they were doing when they placed them in rooms 505 & 506.
Lee Ann and David become best friends pretty quickly. They spent those early months doing normal freshmen things: they hungout every day after classes. Walked to get coffee together. Planned dinner around their schedules and made sure they walked to the dining hall together (with their huge group of friends as well. Remember: they lived on a floor where everyone was basically forced to be friends) Shared stories about their lives, doing their best to avoid the past and instead live in the moment. They'd choose to stay on campus through the weekend to spend more time together instead of going home (and there truly was nothing to do at SSU on the weekends) Their favorite pastime was sitting together at the end of the day and watching How I Met Your Mother together.
While the fall of 2013 has a special place in their hearts, Lee Ann and David didn't start officially dating until almost the end of that school year: April 28, 2014. If that date looks familiar to you, you're right. They're getting married on their 10-year anniversary. How freaking cute is that?
The College Years really shaped a huge portion of their relationship. They made a lot of friends, lost a lot of friends, supported each other through every endeavor (Lee Ann ended up double majoring, while David took on two minors in the final year and a half - good grief), and graduated with the brightest of futures ahead; all the things they talked about on those horrible dorm room beds while Ted Mosby elongated his search for the future "mother".
just getting started: 2019
A lot happened in 2018. Just six months removed from graduating college. It was a 12-month span of time that forced Lee Ann & David to, in the simplest of terms, grow up. This year would once again change the trajectory of their lives. Love, loss, grief, acceptance - lots of emotions and experiences were felt and had during these 12 months. If you were around them during this time, from the two of them: thank you for being there, for being their most trusted family and friends, and for showing up during the most difficult of times.
2019 gave them a complete 180 turn that they used as a catalyst throughout the next chapter of their time together. They started traveling more. They committed more time to themselves instead of adjusting for those around them. They discovered new interests and tried new things, and fell in love all over again.
Between 2019 and 2022 they had been to so many new places together for the first time: Nashville, Atlantic City, New York City, North Conway, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Paris Freaking France. They moved into their first apartment together in May 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, without the promise or assurance they'd even be working the next day. Their reinvigorating 2019 shot them into the Pandemic Years thinking about what was next. Being inside and unable to do much of anything for so long gave them a lot of time to think about what was coming next. Something Lee Ann had talked...and talked...and talked...occasionally complained...and talked even more about for so long.
morning & midnight: 2022
In retrospect, David knew a long time ago how he was going to propose to Lee Ann: a video for her to watch alone in a theater, followed by the surprise of her family and friends outside to watch her (hopefully) say yes. A short 10-15 minute video followed by a small gathering turned into an almost hour-long video followed by a large outdoor gathering of 25-30 of their closest family and friends. David never shies away from theatrics.
The proposal was planned years in advance, as early as when they were still in college. David had told a couple of close friends how he was going to make it happen, unclear if he'd ever be able to pull it off. Multiple years later, on an extremely windy day in Newburyport, MA, with a morning of manicures, lunch, drinks, and fake dessert, it all came together...everyone just needed to wait an extra 50 minutes until the video was done. The video ends, Lee Ann walks outside, surrounded by her friends and family holding bouquets for her. She walks toward David for a moment shes been dreaming about for years, and it finally happens.
Spoiler alert: she said yes.
So here we are. Plans are in motion for the wedding of a lifetime. At the time of this writing, we're a little over a year away. Much has already been completed: the wedding party, the venue, the vendors, the guest list. There is still much more to do: Lee Ann's dress, the bachelor/bachelorette parties, the cacophony of upcoming payments, editing the guest list. Their families are feeling this as well. Hell, their older brothers played baseball together when they were kids, and her dad was the coach. Lee Ann and David could've met a long, long time ago without them even knowing. Again, if fate was truly something to believe in, it was shoving it in their faces.
Lee Ann and David feel prepared. They also don't. They feel excited. They also feel scared. What they unequivocally feel together is the amount of love and support from the people around them. They've always felt that. All the way back almost 10 years ago when they were just two kids from neighboring towns who by a stroke of chance ended up as next door neighbors. Just a couple of kids trying to gift each other the best blue French horn and find their yellow umbrella.
Ted Mosby once said: “There are two big days in any love story: the day you meet the girl of your dreams, and the day you marry her.”
They cannot wait to share that second day with you all.
See you on April 28, 2024.