Local Love: Keith and Allison

August 13,2021

THEIR LOVE STORY

Keith and I became friends at 14 in highschool. We remained good friends from that point forward. As the years progressed we came close to dating multiple times, there was always a spark, but timing was never on our side. Finally, at age 43 we figured out that there was definitely a relationship worth pursuing. We've been together since our first date on November 11, 2017.

My sweet man who never planned to marry, have kids or have pets, proposed on November 10, 2019. We were legally married with just our moms and sisters on January 13, 2020. That day, Keith became a husband, a "stepped-up dad" (that's what our girl calls him!) to my 16 year old adopted daughter, Mariela, and the furdaddy to two (now three) dogs.

Our big wedding was planned for August 14, 2020, but COVID. We moved in together for the first time, Keith, Mariela, myself, Keith's mother, and the two pups, on March 13, 2020. We then spent pretty much 24-7 together for the next 18 months. Keith and I began to work from home and Mariela's school went remote and lockdowns of different extremes kicked in. We had to postpone our wedding for a year to August 13, 2021.

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THEIR INSPIRATION

Our intention for the wedding was to be beautiful, fun, and honor our new family as well as my deceased father. We wanted to have an entertainment element from start to finish as we knew that this was the first big event many of our guests would attend since the start of the pandemic.

The ceremony was traditional with a twist...we had humorous elements in our vows that we each wrote ourselves, the father daughter dance had a slideshow of featuring my dad while I danced with special men from our family, friends, and my father's best friend to a song that my dad taught around the world, Let There Be Peace on Earth and embedded into the song were voice memos of my dad saying he loved me and some funny one liners from saved voicemails. We also wanted an added fun element during the dancing portion of the evening and had giveaways that went with the songs in the reception including leies, sunglasses, maracas, and more!

Additionally, for the guests' enjoyment we had a candy buffet and chocolate fountain as well as a photobooth that captured many fun scenes with our guests posing and using props to create great pics!

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THEIR FAVORITE PART

The day was awesome from start to finish. From the girls all meeting to get their hair done to Keith, Mariela, and I talking in the hotel room before bed about what a perfect day it had been and just enjoying celebrating each other!

So, picking a favorite part is hard. I'd say two really great moments were the way we did the Unity candle and our daughter's speech where she thanked me for being her mama and Keith for being her stepped up dad...it was beautiful.

The Unity candle was done a bit differently. We had a large blue candle that was lit before the ceremony began and represented the love we are blessed with from our families. From that candle Keith's dad lit his family candle and then my mom lit our family candle. Keith, Mariela and I then went to the Unity Candle table and Mariela held the Unity Candle representing the new family our marriage created and Keith and I each took our family candles and lit the Unity Candle together. We then gave Mariela a kiss and returned hand in hand to our spots for the remainder of the ceremony.

THEIR ADVICE

Let your personality drive the plans for your wedding. We had an amazing night because as our guests kept telling us the ceremony reflected us by including traditions we value, laughter, and just having fun and connecting with our closest and dear family and friends.

We had sentimental moments, exciting moments...and just had a lot of fun. Because it was truly tailored to our personalities, we were able to just relax and enjoy the day. We weren't worrying about what we "should" do, but instead on making it the night of our dreams. If you can focus on each other and enjoy all the carefully thought out elements of the special day, you'll have no regrets and only amazing memories and a heart that swells with happiness when you look back on the day.