Thank You

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate with us! We hope you had a blast and we are so happy to have gotten to share this special moment with all of you. 

We have photo booth photos on Facebook and if you would like other copies, feel free to contact us.

As requested, here is the script for the ceremony:

*Before Procession, officiant stand at gazebo Music: Piano Guy’s cover of A thousand Years)

Officiant: Kayla and Leigh, today you are surrounded by your family and friends, all of whom have gathered to witness you exchange vows and to share in the joy of this occasion. Let this day be an affirmation of what you mean to each other and the commitment of marriage you are making.

ADDRESS

Officiant:

The love we bear witness to this day does not insist on permanency, or duration, or continuity as the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity, in freedom. Our love must be able to change as we change and grow as we grow.

When we love someone, we do not love them all the time in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is impossible to do so, and it is a lie to pretend that we can.

And yet this is exactly what most of us demand of love and marriage. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, and love, and relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror of the ebb. We are afraid the tide will never return, despite all the evidence to the contrary, and we would still the ocean in order to secure our present happiness.

Yet, we cannot still the ocean, and doing so is not to be desired. Life depends on the rise and fall of the tide; to try to stop it and hold onto it is to destroy the very thing we cherish.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not even in hoping and vowing. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back at what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what might be in dread or anticipation, but in living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now in this moment.

THE EXPRESSION OF INTENT

Officiant: Leigh and Kayla will now take part in a Planting Ceremony, to symbolize the roots of their relationship, and the continued growth of their love, as they become each other’s family today.

Oxalis triangularis is also known as the love plant. Its beautiful purple leaves are known to follow the light as it grows towards the sun. Likewise Kayla and Leigh will strive continuously to seek the betterment of each other as they grow separately and together.

Today this plant is nothing more than a bulb, but this bulb has within it almost everything it needs to survive.

Likewise, Leigh and Kayla bring with them their love and willing commitment, the basics necessary for a meaningful and mutually enriching marriage. However, like this plant, their love will not grow without ongoing care and vigilance and a home to house it in. All of you are the house in which Kayla and Leigh wish to build their love.

Kayla and Leigh, as you seek to enter this state of matrimony, you should strive to make real the ideals that give meaning to this ceremony and sanctity to your marriage. With full awareness, know that you are declaring your intent -- before your friends and family as witnesses -- to enter into this marriage of your own free will.

The promises made today and the seeds that are sown here will grow and strengthen your union for all of your shared life. Do you so seek to enter into this ceremony?

Kayla and Leigh: Yes.

Officiant:

Kayla, will you consider Leigh in your actions, doing your best to act with kindness and love. (I will)

Leigh, will you consider Kayla in your actions doing your best to act with kindness and love. (I will)

Please place the seeds of this promise into the pot for safe-keeping and as a symbol of your commitment.

Officiant:

Kayla, will you honor Leigh as an equal in this union? (I will.)

Leigh, will you honor Kayla as an equal in this union? (I will.)

Please pour the soil in equal measure as representation of this mutual commitment.

Officiant

Kayla, will you commit to the daily care of this union through good and bad, plenty and scarcity, illness and health? (I will)

Leigh, will you commit to the daily care of this union through good and bad, plenty and scarcity, illness and health? (I will)

Please both take hold of the watering pot and pour the life-giving water over the soil sealing this commitment.

CEREMONY OF THE RINGS

Officiant: I now ask you to seal the vows you will speak to each other by the giving and receiving of rings. The perfect circle of the ring symbolizes eternity. The precious metal came from the ground as a rough ore and was heated and purified, shaped and polished. Something beautiful was made from raw elements. Your love is like that. It comes from humble beginnings, made by imperfect beings. But you are in the process of making something beautiful where there was once nothing at all.

Officiant: Leigh, you may now share your vows:

Leigh: Every day when I wake,

you'll be the one I choose, and though there might arguments, I'll never truly lose.+ Through distance, balloons, puppets, 8 hour calls and more, I can't predict the future, but there's one thing of which I'm sure, I want you in my life, as my best friend and wife, and through all future strife, I'll be there by your side, so if you'll be my guide, I promise to never hide, our love. Unless of course, some Kantian moralist knocks at our door, and asks if I've seen you, while holding a knife, that sort of situation obviously calls for, a slightly more nuanced response. In that situation I might decieve, them about your location. For I believe that lying for you might help provide the best outcome. With that aside, I have only this to say. From me to you, Kayla, With this ring, I do thee Wed. Hail Hydra

Officiant: Kayla, you may now share your vows:

Kayla: I think it’s only fair to tell you I’m crying or on the verge of tears because you have succeeded in being clever, hilarious and simultaneously heartwarming all at once. Just one of the many reasons that I love you as I hope would be abundantly clear to you and our audience.

Leigh, you are my best friend and I vow every day to be your partner in every sense of the word. I vow to challenge you when you want to be challenged and to support you when you don’t want a challenge. I vow to be your home, a place you can always come back to and feel safe to be yourself, whether it’s when we are curled up on the couch playing farming simulators or watching youtube or when we’ve gone on another poke walk. I vow to always keep trying to be better for myself as well as you throughout this gand adventure that is our life. I vow to always consider your feelings, desires, and hopes and respect your agency in all things we do because you matter to me and I love you. So, with this ring, I do thee wed.

PRONOUNCEMENT AND KISS

Officiant: Kayla and Leigh, on behalf of all those present, and by the strength of your own love, I pronounce you married.

You may seal your vows with a kiss.

Officiant: (Directed towards audience)

To you all, you will find under your seats a small bag of soil. Over the course of the reception, should you so wish, you may contribute your soil to the pot as a symbol of your love and support for their union.

• Now as the processional recesses, there will be opportunities for photos and well wishes. The remainder of the reception will be inside the building behind you and the associated tent. Please try any of the board games that strike your fancy. There will be food towards the back of the main room and should you ever get lost there is a map on the porch. From the depths of our hearts, we thank you for sharing in this momentous occasion.

*Recessional music starts: Vitamin String Quartet Kids cover

Thank you again for sharing in our special day!

Welcome!

You have found yourself to the wedding website of Kayla and Leigh! We are very excited that you are going to join us for the first step in our journey as a couple. We hope that the information here can prepare you for everything you need to know as well as get you as excited to join us in this celebration.

Our Story

As told by Kayla:

I spent a year abroad at the University of Oxford just over two years ago. I was enthralled with the opportunity to learn from some of the best and the brightest but one of the biggest boons was all of the clubs and extracurricular activities. As a long time lover of role playing games, I was delighted to discover that the University of Oxford had a role playing society. While I didn't know it that year, I would meet my future husband at that club. Watching as we played characters and solved problems, I became drawn to Leigh's quick wit and quirky charisma. Toward the end of my time there, Leigh and I became very close and figuring that such a short time was not enough to found a relationship on we went our separate ways but kept in touch through videos, scavenger hunts, and puppet shows. We kept in touch over the next year and I made plans to go back to Oxford for a holiday. Shortly before, we rekindled our relationship and it became quickly clear that he was my best friend and I loved him. 9 months later I proposed and I couldn't be happier.

As told by Leigh:

Kayla and I met first when I was working for the United Nations as one of the lead psychologists of their famed expeditionary organizations. Kayla was working as a medic, doing medical research and we bonded over the general incompetence of those around us. Later, I went back to magician school, where I utilized my experience working for the world government to spy on potential terrorists. Kayla had begun antagonizing the government with potential insurrectionism, and I wormed my way into her bed to continue my work. She disappeared after that, but reappeared later having moved back into the medical field, working as a blood splatter analyst for the police. Obviously they hadn't done a background check. I was struggling with a hair problem at the time, but still found time to go out of my way to help her with her cases.

"or you can use this one..."

I met Kayla not long after I moved to Oxford. While well past my student days, I was welcomed by the University societies, and met a fair few interesting and entertaining people; none of them ended up making as big an impact on my life as Kayla would go on to do though. While it took us most of the year to reconnect in a romantic fasion after she left, we kept in touch and continued to challenge each other. I think it's safe to say that regardless of how we challenged each other, I've definitely won, because just before the new year, Kayla proposed to me.

Proposal Story

It was a windy morning chilly winter morning when Kayla left a trail of notes from the upstairs to the kitchen. Each note referenced their many adventures as well as featured a lovely button with a rune symbol from Leigh's favorite video game, Suikoden! Leigh followed them to the kitchen where a breakfast of tea, banana pancakes and Kayla with a very berry ring pop down on one knee (or at least after Leigh complained that she wasn't on one knee) was waiting. In a suit and tie top and pajama bottoms, Leigh said yes! and the rest is history.

We ask that you take the opportunity to check out all the tabs on the top bar and if you have any further questions, please feel free to email or facebook one or both of us!