Sarah's first time coming over to Brian's parent's house was the summer after their high school graduation and she insisted on jumping on their backyard trampoline. Sarah broke her ankle on that trampoline and Brian and his mom took Sarah to the E.R. “He stayed with me for the full three hours and looked like he might have been suffering more than me,” says Sarah.
During that summer of the broken ankle, Brian entertained Sarah at her house. Sarah hated using her crutches on the stairs and so Brian would give her piggy back rides up and down, up and down the stairs like a nimble human escalator. “As much as it sucked to deal with a broken [ankle], it made me see exactly what type of person he is.” Sarah goes on… “I love Brian's attitude. He's fun and practical and takes really good care of me. The thing that got me hooked was the result of [that] no so fun day!”
One week before Sarah's twenty-third birthday, her and Brian had talked about getting engaged, and Brian said he'd propose sometime in the next year. Sarah didn't suspect anything then the following week when the two made a trip out to Lake Chelan in central Washington to go zip-lining and have lunch at a winery. Which would explain why, when Brian began to propose at the winery Sarah got distracted by a pond of adjacent Koi fish and Brian had to regroup and try again a few minutes later. On the second go-around Sarah began sobbing happy tears and Brian says he can't remember anything that happened after that including how the ring got on Sarah's finger. Sarah, jumping in, will freely admit to grabbing the ring out of the ring box and putting it on her own finger, tears dripping down her face. Everyone on the winery patio cheered for them and a neighboring table even sent over a pair of wine glasses as a memento and gift for the day.
Sarah and Brian first met their junior year on the high school tennis team. Brian, for the better part of a year would try without result to set Sarah up with his good friend thinking that they'd be a great fit. The whole situation turned into a giant running joke, and it wasn't until their senior that Brian finally asked Sarah out, as his own date to their senior prom. Says Brian, “Sarah is my best friend. She's intelligent, beautiful and easy going. She's the first person I want to share with any time something happens in my life; big or small, good or bad.”
Their wedding reception was held at the very modern and urban venue, SoDo Park in Seattle. They chose this 100-year-old renovated factory floor to accommodate their large group of around 300 guests. They chose Seafair day in Seattle as their wedding day and so overhead from the morning through the early evening, different exotic airplanes buzzed overhead, including the in-formation Blue Angels as we gathered outside of Holy Names Academy for the wedding ceremony.
Sarah and Brian's wedding also brought together a few of my favorite wedding vendors. Portland-based photographer Kai Hayashi, second shot with me and Aleah and Nick Valley from Valley and Co. coordinated and designed the wedding.
