The month of July has been one heck of a ride! The biggest one was getting married mid-July. Even though our courtship was 3 months, we have been together off and on for 5 years. When we got back together after the fallout of our first engagement to each other, we did things a little differently; we took it slow, focused more on the spiritual and emotional connection over the physical connection (since we were long distance). The results? A stronger and more spiritually centered relationship than ever before and Brennan was more sure of being married by 2026, which makes me even more excited.

Proposal story

There are actually two stories to it and both of them happened. I originally wanted to propose on the same day the engagement ended a year prior: New Years Eve. But it came and went and I didn’t execute that. By the first Sunday of 2026, Brennan wanted to propose so bad but was scared to ask for my parents hand in marriage again due to what has happened last time. So I went ahead a simply asked via audio message “will you marry me” and I was a little nervous. But then, he called and asked if I was serious and by that point I was crying with joy and he said yes before I hung up to take a shower. During that time, he sent an audio message asking the same thing: will you marry me. I picked up the phone and was crying happy tears and said yes.

In between the “phone proposal” and in-person, we kept it private except for those in our congregation. I started wearing the original engagement ring around the house and/or in the congregation. Knowing my mom has connections through the city due to her work, I was scared to say anything about it or wear my engagement ring in public since I didn’t tell her. Instead, I wore my Diana Ring (replica of the sapphire engagement ring of Princess Diana) while out and about. And honestly, it was kind of the same situation when my mom got engaged 31 years ago, but instead of fearing of her mom, she was scared that her friends would find out and be upset about not telling them.

For the in-person proposal, it happened a few weeks afterward when Brennan came over as I finished up a two-part dental work, which includes getting permanent crowns in, as moral support. He showed up first thing in the morning before I had my coffee. After some cuddling, I took a shower, washed my hair, and as I was finishing up in the bathroom, there was a knock on the door, and there he was on one knee holding a ring box. He basically said “it was a long road and we went through so much together, I can’t imagine life without you, will you marry me”. And I responded with “yes, I’ll be your hus…I mean wife” (a callback to when Brennan asked me to be his boy…I mean girlfriend). And the cherry on top was that Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone was playing in the background.

Engagement era (all the ups and downs)

When we got engaged (again), we knew that we had to do things differently and soak it all in. After telling our families we got engaged, we waited to start the planning process. But the 9 months to get there was not easy.

There was some family drama on both sides of Brennan’s family due to different circumstances and those things I won’t get into detail about. On my end, there were drama involving my parent’s animals. When Daylight Savings began in March, my parents’s 10 month old puppy, Cheyenne, passed away unexpectedly due to a twisted intestine. About a month before our wedding, we found out that my parents’s oldest dog, Kaiser, was diagnosed with cancer after having his spleen removed due to the tumor rupture and causing internal bleeding. Luckily, he powered through despite the unfortunate aftermath.

Along with some tough times, there were some highlights as well. The same week we lost Cheyenne, Brennan got baptized on 3/14. On Mother’s day, 5/10, I also get baptized. Both joyous occasions for not only our blood family but our spiritual family as well. And yes, we did attend each other’s baptisms and later that month, Brennan attended my first ever Jehovah’s Witness convention.

June and July were BIG buildups of what’s to come. In June, my parents got another dog, Shadow Penny. She is the cutest little rolly polly puppy with a big heart and bigger personality as she gets older. Not only a week or two later, we had a beautiful bridal shower with the attendance being mostly my sisters from my congregation. The food was delicious, wonderful gifts and a fun game to play along with. With 2 weeks away from getting married, Brennan officially moved in. To keep it clean and safe, I stayed with my parents across town while he stayed in my apartment, living alone for the very first time.

The most important thing we did was getting all our ducks in order for our vendors. Our venue takes place in the same venue my parents got married in 31 years ago. Catering was from the same restaurant as our first date; DJ is my mom’s favorite DJ/radio host; cake is from the same company that made my HS graduation cake. Our officiant? An elder from our congregation who happens to be deaf and raised orally. Also, we took the time to slow down and focus on us, which is something we did not do the first time we were engaged.

Wedding eve

The eve of our wedding began in sorrow and ended with joy. That week, we found out that Kaiser’s cancer spread toward his lungs and chest cavity. Sadly he turned for the worse overnight and we had to put him down that morning. Brennan was there, the weather was absolutely beautiful and the visual that stood out was the fact that Kaiser was staring at the burial sites of his sisters, Cheyenne and Shiloh (who passed a year before due to cancer), before going into an eternal sleep. I wasn’t close with Kaiser because they got him while I was in college, so Brennan and I were really there for my parents. I did question whether we should do it the day before the wedding but in reality, if we didn’t my parents wouldn’t be as present as they should. So it worked out for all of us in the end.

Afterwards, its go-time on both fronts and in different areas. Brennan helped my parents prep their house for the rehearsal dinner while I was back at the apartment doing my own laundry and prepping myself for the big day (shaving, waxing, etc.).

The rehearsal dinner went without a hitch! The entire Altree family, Grandma and Grandpa Kenny, Kristin and her husband, and Aaron was there. One comment I got from a couple people on that side of the family is how small I am. It makes sense because I lost 40 pounds since the last time they saw me. The dinner was a taco bar held at my parents place and the weather couldn’t be more perfect. Also there has been great conversations, laughs and everything good.

The rehearsal dinner wasn’t a big or long party; eventually people left and it was a very peaceful evening, no bachelor or bachelorette party. Near the end of the night, I pulled out a very special book from my childhood, perfect for the occasion and it’s called Love You Forever. Mom insisted on reading it since dad has a lot of reading the next day with his speech. Afterwards, mom and I made homemade breakfast burritos for those involved in the set up the next morning. Also, who wants a hangry bride on her wedding morning? Overall it was a very quiet and peaceful night prior to what would be the best day of my life

Wedding day

The wedding day was so packed obviously, but what I’m grateful for is that I was able to absorb every moment and every minute that happened instead of just blanking out. And that’s what I was afraid of that I would be blanking out, taking it for granted and then not remember.

I remember having somewhat of a decent amount of sleep, knowing that I wouldn’t. But I woke up really early, earlier than my alarm, and for a long time, I thought it would hit me so hard, but it was a slow hit like today’s the day. Right when the sun rises, we got the ground running. We started loading up the RV, which was supposed to be the bridal suite and our like equipment vehicle. And then we arrived roughly around 8-9am, both the best man and the matron of honor (Aaron and Kristin) were there, Brennan was there and Brennan‘s brother Robbie was there. Luckily, we bribed him enough with homemade breakfast burritos to get him out of bed.

And right when we got there, we started unloading the RV into Aspen Hall, and we start setting up. The boys got the tables and the chairs already set up indoors before meeting up with the coordinator outside to set up the ceremony area while the girls basically just set up the table cloths, and everything involved. When we were about halfway done, my uncle Doug, aunt Lisa, and cousin Scott came to help. They brought over the flowers and they started helping out with the lights that was supposed to be the outline of the dance floor. And surprise surprise, we got done with setting up within two hours. We thought we’re gonna take three hours to set up and then do rehearsal day of. So to kill time, and Brennan and I just went for a walk. Honestly, I was not suited well for a decent walk because I wore the wrong shoes. I wore flip-flops not tennis shoes. Luckily no harm done except for some dusty feet going into the motorhome so I can clean it off before rehearsal. 

For rehearsal, Brennan‘s grandma and dad showed up as well as our officiant just for that and we ran through it at least a few times. We didn’t have to go through it so often because there’s not a lot of people in our bridal party and our coordinator has an idea. And honestly, I’m so glad that I have put together a playlist for the wedding on my phone because one, I want music to remember by and two in case they needed back up. Exhibit A: when the coordinator needed the music to pace the walk. Afterwards, the girls went back to my parents house, the boys tagged along, except for Brennan and his party. And we did hair and make up, it didn’t take long. With me being a bride and getting it done, I brought out my parents wedding album so that we can go through with Doug, Lisa and Scott. Scott was a little baby when my parents got married in the same venue so that’s pretty neat and Kristin was able to take a wonderful photo of that.

Once we were done with hair and makeup, we went back to the RV on site to basically get dressed. I gave Kristin, my parents and Brennan each a gift as well as a letter. For my parents, I got them this customized kind of artwork from Etsy. Kristin, a necklace for the maid of honor; Brennan, a customized tie clip that has our wedding date on it and our song from Dear Evan Hansen: Only Us. 

Once all of us were ready, the photographer said that Brennan was ready for the first look. So we met. I could’ve done something ridiculous like the typical “poke him the butt” wife move. But I decided to do something much more sweet, which is wrapping my arms around him. When he turned around, he didn’t break down, he just said “oh my God” in a very bashful way. And he was very handsome.

After photos with Brennan, I had a first look with my dad and holy cow, he was very sleek. He said he feels like an agent from Men in Black. In fact, he did rent the suit so that’s why. I can’t recall if we had photos together or not, but we did take our places minutes before we had to make “the walk to remember”. I had this idea that he was gonna look at me and say something along the lines of “way to go, kiddo” but I can’t recall if we said anything to each other before walking. We had great conversations and when it was time, our coordinator gave us the thumbs up and it’s time to go. And on top of that, the air has cleared a little bit because smoke came in an hour prior and we were concerned about that.

When we walked over to where everybody else was at, I recall, just looking at everybody there smiling, grateful that they’re there. And that was just for like a split second what felt like, and then I narrowed onto what will be my husband in a few moments. When I looked at him, he swelled up with tears, he was so emotional. After giving Kristin my bouquet, I immediately started wiping the tears off his face. Throughout the ceremony, whenever I noticed that he was emotional, I squeezed his hands. With me being hard of hearing, I had to look at our officiant and then look at Brennan as well. During our vows that we had to repeat, Brennan had to ask him to repeat so he could break it down. I on the other hand, switched up the order of cherish, honor and respect. And then the second part I had to really slow down and try to absorb what the next words are because we didn’t even rehearse at all. As for the rings, he was able to put it on no problem. I feel like I was fumbling with his ring to try to get it to my fingers, and then I was able to slide it in. After our prayer, we did the “kiss the bride” moment and in that moment it didn’t feel like a minute it felt like three minutes and it’s just us no one around. I think I said to him “we did it,” but it was so much of a rush in that moment that I didn’t remember much except that we did a kiss halfway up the aisle.

Once Kristin and Aaron met up with us, they congratulated us and Kristin, being a tall woman, picked me up with excitement. She had never done that before and that was surprising. Aaron said that the reason why he had to wear glasses that he was getting emotional too. And for the first time ever, when Dad came over, he said to Brennan “hey there, son”.

The rest of the wedding day was just bundled, but luckily I was able to remember. I remember greeting everything one. The ones that stood out the most was when I went up to my father-in-law and I said “hey Dad“ and he got a little emotional while hugging me. And with Robbie, my brother-in-law, I said the one thing I’ve always wanted to say and it’s a reference to Drake and Josh: hug me, brotha! The family portraits, the wedding family portraits was the only thing that was a headache. Because my side of the family was average size, but Brennan‘s side of the family was huge, so it was trying to wrangle everybody, and it was almost like a cattle run. And then after family photos, we weren’t quite sure of whether we should do our intro or not so we just had that special moment just the two of us together. We missed out on a really good cheeseboard, but fortunately my parents were able to give us some leftover meats and cheeses.

Once we were able to get inside for our reception, some of the most memorable things happen there. My dad did the father of the bride speech and it was really well written. I said it kindly that he made me look good when he said that I lettered twice in swimming when in fact, I’ve only lettered one year and that’s it. I didn’t cry at all during his speech, but he got choked up and got emotional. His advice part was so touching. And another part of his speech that was so touching, he got a little emotional about it, was when he mentioned that Brennan has been part of our family since my parents have met him. Aaron, had nothing written out, but it was really well spoken that Brennan got really emotional that he probably went through three napkins. What really stood out to Aaron‘s speech with that he mentioned that there has never been any other girl in Brennan’s life that has fought as hard as I did for the relationship and Aaron has been Brennan‘s best friend since the sixth grade. 

The dance was absolutely beautiful. For our first dance, it felt like there was no one else in the room, song was playing and that’s all it mattered. It’s just the two of us. Then the father/daughter dance, I could tell Dad was really emotional about it cause he held onto me very close and didn’t wanna let go like twirl around or whatever. And then with Brennan and his grandma, it was very, very sweet. They didn’t like sway, and they did the whole kind of fun little dance and it was fun to watch.

The cake was very memorable. While we were cutting the cake, I thought we were just doing the one tier but we went through two because he knew that we’re gonna eat a lot of this cake and that threw me off a little bit. Once it was time to like feed each other, I specifically told him “do not shove it in my mouth.” Luckily he didn’t and with a little bit of icing on my finger I just boop his nose before kissing.

The latter part of the reception was very laid-back like we were on a really wonderful venue where you can be inside dancing, but also you can be outside hanging out and it’s right by the fishing pond. My cousin Ryan’s little boy Max was very adamant on fishing there one day. And what so special about it is that his dad was eight years old when my parents got married, I was eight year-old old when his dad got married and now Max is eight years old when I got married. So it’s a full circle moment. And yes, there was some dancing and it was so much fun. 

Originally, we thought we would have this big exit but honestly since everybody was just scattered, we figured we would just say goodbye to everybody at around nine and then just drive away to our Airbnb. The Airbnb was just across town and we had our little moments of just talking and one thing that stood out for me was that he said that he settled into this feeling and the thought that I’m his and he is mine. And then we spent the rest of the evening in the Airbnb.

The Day After

We woke up at around seven, which is normal time for Brennan to wake up and the first night sleeping with your significant other next to you is not always the best but eventually you get used to it. Since our Airbnb have a shared hot tub, we decided to going to the hot tub and our host was hanging out there and we had some great conversations even just saying that we just got married the day before felt surreal to me.

Originally, I thought we were just gonna hang out in our Airbnb going through YouTube and what not but Brennan said that this may be the last full day for our relatives to be in town and we should make our rounds and I agreed. The first place we went to was my parents because they deserve it most importantly. Drove across town, gets chat with them a little bit, hang out with their puppy Shadow as well as chitchat with my uncle Mike, aunt Jeana, and cousin Alayna, who did help out with the wedding as well, but in the latter part.

Then we drove down to Tetherow on the edge of town, which is a golfing resort and community, where Brennan‘s paternal side are located and we spent some good quality time there. We did some jigsaw puzzles, I get to chitchat with my father-in-law‘s partner Menbi, as well as my grandfather in law. And this was probably one of the greater conversations I had with him since meeting him a couple years prior. After sometime, we drove down to a neighborhood just outside of Sunriver to spend time with the maternal side. I found out that morning that Brennan‘s cousin Lexi was expecting. So we get to spend time with that side and it was really fun.

By that time, I was really tired and we took a nap before heading to Worthy brewery for dinner. As we were looking for a place to sit, Brennan heard someone call my name and it turns out it was the mothers of the kids I grew up with on the same street. It was not planned. I had no idea that they were there except I knew that Morgan’s mom and stepfather are visiting for tour of the homes that they do every year. And it’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen every single one of them and it felt so nice and Lill, Colleen’s mom, and her partner Steve ask Brennan to be their driver to and from the airport and they were going on vacation which he happily agreed. So overall that day after was very fruitful, very well deserved and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Final thoughts

It truly was a day to remember and I personally wouldn’t change it for the world. Like I said earlier, I’m glad that I was able to soak it all in because if I didn’t, I would beat myself up for it. Were the days leading up to it easy? No, I had mental breakdowns and wonder what the heck we are doing. Mainly because of money and how we are spending on the wedding and how much stress we are putting on mom because she was doing everything. We felt obligated to my parents, especially mom, so much that we gifted mom with a massage as a way of saying thank you. But after everything, the stress went away and it was replaced with precious memories from our wedding that will be with us for as long as both shall live.

Next stop: HONEYMOON!!!