I married my favorite human. This is the story of how we came to be :)

*** All photographs taken by the lovely Erica “Spin” Simas ***

It was January 2010 when we met. I was a senior at university, and my sorority was holding a fundraising event (ehm, club event) that required each of us to work a shift at the door.

But it was a Thursday night, and I must have come up with every excuse in the book as to why I couldn’t attend.

It’s a school night, I said. I have a midterm tomorrow, I lied. I don’t feel well *cough, cough*.

Seni was working that night. He was part of the security team for the venue, and he was called to cover a shift for a coworker.

Neither of us wanted to be there that night, but the stars aligned, and there we were.

By the end of the night, I was formally introduced to the tall, brown security guard whom I had been eyeballing all night :)

The rest is ourstory.

I skipped so much class the remainder of my senior year. On sunny days, we’d sneak off to buy fresh coconuts and head to the beach instead.

I remember lying next to him one day under the sun. I was baking, sweaty AF, but determined to get a tan. I thought, surely he’s getting irritated by now; it’s so hot, and tanning is probably not his thing.

But I turned to see the biggest grin staring right back. We were together, and that was enough.

Despite coming from completely different backgrounds and upbringings — he, born in the Kingdom of Tonga (Polynesian island), and I, born in Mexico – we found common ground. Most importantly, we continue to learn from each other and help each other grow in the areas we lack.

It was probably only a couple of weeks after we’d met, that we both knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

We have been together for seven years now.

So why did we wait this long to tie the knot, you might wonder? The answer is simple. Signing a document simply was not a priority or something of great importance to us.

…And neither were societal timelines or expectations.

It’ll happen in 2017, we said. We’ll run into the wilderness and drag our families with us, we said.

So on May 20^th, in the presence of our immediate families, we exchanged vows lakeside and under a sunny sky.

Love is easy with him and our life together, unconventional. And that’s just how we prefer it :)

Love & Adventure,

Denise

You can find more of Erica’s work at www.ericaspin.com, or via Instagram, @filmandpixel.

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WA

Below are more of my favorite images. We were sleep deprived, fighting a cold, and just not feeling our best, but Erica worked her magic and did such a beautiful job capturing us in our element. Thanks a million, Erica!! <3

This was a campground elopement; I’ll be sharing details on my next post, HERE :) We exchanged vows at Lake Crescent, and used the surrounding areas, including Hurricane Ridge, for our photoshoot. Find us on Instagram under the hashtag, #OfWildestLove. 

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Stay curious, wild hearts!

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