Tinder can be set up to a 100 mile radius and in Utah, sometimes that’s still not enough to find a date for queer folks. Madi: just finished Bly Manor and was swiping for fun. Tia: just swore to be a “spinster” for awhile. Our addresses in Brigham City and Provo were just over 100 miles away from each other. Call it luck or fate or something else entirely--like the fact that a direct distance may be less than 100 miles--but bada-bing bada-boom. It’s a match!

After a couple weeks of text exchanges and a “first-date” over facetime due to Covid exposures, we planned our first date. In the climate of a pandemic, we decided to be responsible and have our first date be a drive. No specified place. No other plans. We met in the parking lot of the Draper Ikea when the sun was still up and returned hours later after meandering through the avenues of Salt Lake City, finding ourselves all the way in Ogden holding hands, and stopping for a quick slice of pizza at the Pie Hole. Our first kiss ended the night under the bright Ikea parking lot lamps. Very romantic, I know.

Marriage was an easy yes for both of us. It was always in the cards. After moving to Boston, we found comfort in exploring the state and finding the best cider (Russell Orchards is still #1) which led us to apple picking–a staple New England fall activity. A year after our first apple picking date, we returned to the same orchard and left engaged! We also left with a bag full of apples to make pies with.

We’ve had many milestones. We spent our first Thanksgiving together in November of 2020, a mere month and a half after we began talking, in an airbnb cabin in Colorado–where we plan to return after our wedding for a chill honeymoon. We first moved in together into a small 400 sq ft apartment in Salt Lake City after only 6 months of dating. Talk about uhauling, am I right? Tia graduated from BYU and finally with a degree in hand, we were able to share our love on social media for the first time. We took the three day trek across the country on the last day of July in 2021 with our three boys to where we now call home in Boston. Here in Boston, Madi got hired to work for Boston EMS as an EMT and Tia graduated with a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Boston College and now works for a community mental health agency as a therapist for 30 clients.

With many milestones achieved together already, we’re excited for many more to come. In the future, we look forward to becoming parents to both children and more pets, home ownership, and continuing to learn and grow together each and every day.

As for now, we are so excited to spend time with our family and friends to celebrate our love in this milestone of marriage.

Registry