“Hayden and I met on Tinder, just after Christmas. He was home from college for the holidays, and had to leave town before we could meet. We started texting occasionally and finally went on our first date in March. We met at a coffee shop and talked for a while before taking a tour of the city, and talking about our shared passion for small houses with cozy porches. Hayden had to drive to St. Louis to go back to school the next morning, but I convinced him to meet me for breakfast. I couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing him before he left town again. We ate at a restaurant that he had found just off the highway (he agreed to meet me on the condition that he could find a restaurant that was on his route out of town) and then, I kissed him next to his car. It was then, that I knew I wanted to marry him.

During the following months, we only saw each other during school holidays and on weekends, but we talked almost every day. After Hayden graduated, he moved in with me the following January, just before the coronavirus shutdown the world as we knew it. I like to joke that being stuck in my little apartment with me could only have led to Hayden marrying me or murdering me. I am glad that it has gone in this direction.

2020 was a crucial time for our relationship. In that little apartment, we found a rhythm for our relationship. We spent most nights creating crazy recipes in the kitchen and stayed up late because we didn’t know how long it would take to cook. In 2021, we moved to a bigger apartment, and started thinking about buying a house. All the conversations we had about houses led Bryant to propose to me on July 3, 2021 in Memphis TN. It was so magical.

We were walking through this beautiful art museum with lush gardens. He knelt down and suddenly Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I love your way” started playing. He pulled out the ring, and I gasped.

It was an incredible weekend. A few months later, we added a new member to our little family. We adopted a dog from our local animal shelter.

His name is Booregard Turbot Jackson and he has become the center of our universe, along with cats of course. Our family grew and we bought a house a few weeks later. Things went so fast with Bryant that it’s not until you look back that you really see how much has happened.

When I look back at the timeframe it always surprises me. We got engaged in early July, made an offer on a house in early August, and then bought a dog in early September. It is logical that we would elope at the beginning of October. Bryant told me that he would arrange everything as long as I chose his clothes. We decided to elope in Mexico.

It was incredibly romantic, arriving at the airport, just the two of us and flying to Mexico to start the next chapter of our lives. I am a private person, and I think Bryant complements that aspect of my personality by wanting things to be more intimate between us. The escape to Mexico was the epitome of our relationship: intimate, but deeply spectacular. It is so wonderful.”

Bryant found Pride Maya Weddings, a wedding coordination team that specializes in same sex marriages in the Riviera Maya and then they found a Riviera Maya photographer, to accompany them on their day. Their destination wedding elopement was just perfect for them. They chose Punta Venado in the Riviera Maya, which is a private venue where they wouldn’t have any tourists interfering in their time together.