TAMMY AARON & a

Love Story

Tammy: “Aaron and I met in math class at North Dakota State University our freshman year in 2008. We started dating shortly after New Year’s in 2009. We cheered for the Bison at football games, ran a couple of half marathons together and helped each other navigate undergrad. Just prior to our senior year of college, we went our separate ways when I moved to Minneapolis for an internship and Aaron stayed in Fargo, pursuing pharmacy school.

“About three years laters, we met up again in spring 2014 after I finished physician assistant school and moved back to Minnesota. When we got back together, I knew he was the one. We spent two years in a long-distance relationship between Duluth and Stillwater prior to moving across the country to Portland, Maine, in 2016. Our love grew over cooking at ‘Aaron’s Place’ (the nickname of our unofficial in-home underground restaurant), hiking in the Appalachian Mountains and sailing in Casco Bay of Maine. It was fitting for our wedding to be set on a hiking trail on the shore of Lake Superior when we spent so much time chasing sunsets on the beaches in Maine.”

Tammy and Aaron had always wanted a small outdoor wedding, so the restrictions set in place due to COVID-19 weren’t really issues to them at all.

Tammy: “Lake Superior and the beauty of northern Minnesota is always so enchanting and beautiful. We have traveled there to ski and camp many times, and we scoped out a part of Lake Superior on the Superior Hiking Trail that was perfect for our ceremony and family time on the beach.

“Part of my vows included just some of the reasons I love, and will continue to love, Aaron:

You bring me joy and put a smile on my face when I wake up in the morning.

You make me laugh with your witty jokes. You almost never say no to my many, many ideas. You aren’t afraid to set out on an adventure with me. You support me on my never-ending, always-changing journey to achieve my goals.

You sit with me and listen when I’m having a bad day. You show me kindness, compassion and respect. I am home when I’m with you.

“I truly am at home when I’m with Aaron, and the comfort he brings me is calming.”

When planning their wedding at a relatively remote location, they knew they were going to have to think outside the box to get it done. Luckily for them, that’s something Tammy and Aaron have been doing for their entire relationship.

Aaron: “One of the things that make our relationship and wedding so special for me is Tammy’s relentless pursuit of doing things our way. I included a line in my vows that said, ‘We have never been a fan of manufactured happiness, or manufactured love, and we get to do things our way, sampling little intricacies of life along the way.’ The concept here is that we don’t need other people to tell us how to feel or how we’re supposed to express our love together. We don’t need a Disney fairy tale, rom-com, Instagram version of love. We do things on our own terms.”

Tammy: “There were many elements of our day that we did ourselves, or had family contribute. We had homemade beer and cider, family musicians, trivia, homemade açaí bowls, repurposed windows for signs, handmade benches and arbor. We had dried flower arrangements that I created and that now decorate our home.”

Keeping things simple allowed them to focus on spending time with the people who mattered most to them, in a place that held special meaning to them.

Aaron: “We have our own way of trying things that fit for us, and that is why so many details of our wedding were DIY. Obviously, we had to accommodate our unique setting that forced us to think outside the box. But it was also an opportunity to focus on what was really important to our day. Sometimes it is easy to be lost in meaningless details that ultimately can be a source of stress. We eliminated much of those ‘that’s just what you do’ tasks, thereby removing stress, mistakes and frustrations. For me, this is one resounding feature of our relationship, our wedding, and something that makes our day so special.” ♡