Danae and I, Married

Danae and I decided, after analyzing our immigration situation, the most reasonable thing to do is to get married. If I were to move to NL with her as an unmarried domestic partner, we'd need to provide documentation of length and 'exclusivity' of our relationship. Rather than having to go through nine years of emails and photos and redact appropriately before sending, we decided to simply get hitched.

We were both annoyed about the necessity of this, but it turned into a really positive experience. Erik talked to his friend Aiden, a Dudeist priest, and arranged for him to officiate. Aiden read through our commitment ceremony from some years back and used it as the text of our vows to each other in a short, sweet, to-the-point marriage. It was perfect! I hadn't really intended to get dressed up or make much out of the event at all because it felt like a bureaucratic necessity. Then Danae's parents asked to Skype in, and then my parents and brothers asked to come in person, and it turned out that Erik could come too so he decided to take video of the event, so Danae and I decided we wanted to dress more nicely... I was really anxious about it becoming unnecessarily complicated! But when we were all together for the ceremony, the renewal of vows and the presence of our families felt unexpectedly positive and meaningful. We couldn't have asked for a better fit to our needs and hopes, both expressed and unconscious.

So there we are, a married couple now!