We Got Married!

Last June, as the pandemic was spreading rapidly throughout the country, we made the difficult decision to postpone our big wedding celebration and instead have a small intimate ceremony for just the two of us. With the new year upon us, we are still uncertain if a large gathering will be possible by the end of June. So, it is with heavy hearts that we have decided to cancel our wedding celebration on June 25, 2021. Someday, when it is safe to do so and everyone feels comfortable attending, we hope to celebrate with all of our friends and family, but for now we are planning to move forward with our lives. In the coming years, we're going to be saving up for a house and eventually starting a family. If you would like to help us along this path, our registry is open and we would be grateful for your generosity. Thank you to all of our friends and family who've been so supportive during this trying time. We appreciate your understanding and we hope that we'll be able to see each other again soon.

The unforeseen pandemic required that we change our plans for our wedding day. It was hard to make the decision to have a non-traditional ceremony without a reception. But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade (with a ton of sugar and maybe a little/lot of booze). Instead of a big celebration with our friends and family we focused on the two of us and why we were getting married. We spent a month writing our vows to one another and used that time to reflect on our relationship. It was an amazing way to lead up to the day and we both felt so connected and ready to make our commitments to each other. The ceremony was held on the grounds of the Hammond Castle in Gloucester, MA. The Hammond Castle is a beautiful and quaint medieval castle on the ocean. We were lucky to have had a gorgeous sunny day as well. Jason's sister, Ryanne, got ordained for the day to marry us and wrote us a lovely ceremony speech. We spent the evening strolling the grounds of the castle, taking pictures, having our first dance, eating cake and finishing with a champagne toast. Although this wasn't our original plan for our day, we will always remember the commitments we made to each other in our intimate little ceremony at the castle by the sea.

Shortly after getting engaged, we decided to make some more big life changes together! We moved to Boston in September 2018 and both started new jobs there. Planning a wedding, adjusting to a new city, and adapting to our new jobs has been a lot to take on all at once, but we have only grown stronger through the experience. We know now more than ever that together we can accomplish anything. We can't wait to see what adventures life has in store for us once we are married.

Jason had been secretly planning the proposal for months with his family and bought Elaine’s engagement ring the week before the annual Ferrara family vacation. We went to Alaska to visit Elaine’s sister Elizabeth and to explore the great outdoors. Jason carried the ring around in his pocket for days while we did all sorts of outdoor activities, waiting for the right moment to pop the question. Elaine had no idea! The whole time we were in Alaska the weather was very cloudy, but on June 20th, 2018, the sun came out for a couple hours. During that small window of sunshine, while hiking in a verdant valley formed by a glacier between the mountains of Hope, Alaska, Jason got down on one knee and asked Elaine to marry him. She was totally surprised and, of course, she said yes. We will never forget the green valley, the mountains, the sunshine and the blue sky on that perfect day surrounded by family.

Although we didn't know it at the time, our paths first crossed in an introductory biology class at Rochester Institute of Technology. We sat in the same lecture hall for a whole semester, but we didn't formally meet until years later, when we connected online. In May 2014, in the middle of finals week, we had our first date at DiBella's, our favorite Italian sandwich shop in Rochester. What was supposed to be a quick study break turned into hours of animated conversation; Elaine was almost late for her shift at MacGregor's that night! We started dating shortly thereafter. Since then, each year together has been an amazing experience spent learning about each other and growing into the people we are today.