kevin and Gabbi’S Wedding Ceremony

Opening

Kevin and Gabbi, today, in this surreal, dreamy place, you seal and celebrate the commitment of your love for each other as you finally become wife and husband.

Kevin and I have known each other for longer than we haven't, so when we talk, we talk like siblings - regular siblings, mind you, not like how he talks to his - showing off what new things we know and trolling each other throughout for good measure.

I was telling Kevin the other day that like today, life is a dream. Our brains are stuck in the past, everything from outside taking a 5th of a second to signal back inside. We lag, so our brain's evolved to predict in order to stay caught up to the present.

That's what makes dreams more real than what we think is real when awake. Asleep, there's no lag, and with access to our entire life's memory bank, our brain is pinging across every part of where each memory's been stored, projecting it back to us as these feverishly-switching, silent films we have no issue questioning the legitimacy of, because the questioning part of our brains also sleep when we do.

Nature's like that. Out here at Glacier Pointe, the world's most unreal scenery shifts from desert to forest to mountain to valley to lake, something our brains can't immediately make sense of, but something we also don't seem to have any problem accepting all the same.

Relationships are like that too. You've chosen this place to elope, and to have the famous Charleton capture the biggest milestone of your journey together. To capture this moment, this feeling, that's as unquestionable as a dream: Your love for each other. Something deep and vast in a place as deep and vast to the planet as the love you have for each other.

Gabbi, I haven't known you as long, but I've been around for enough of the in-person and online snapshots of your relationship's most important moments. You got Kevin out of his commitment shell, both when you both considered the word commitment as a slur and when you got him to come around on adopting Steed, something that finally showed both of you how good of a dad Kevin can and will be in your almost-finished dream home.

As a successful salesman and account manager, Kevin knows of and doesn't fall for most pitches, but you're the only person who sold him on love, and starting your own family together, one built on your values and on your terms.

Gabbi, you're a PA, and you specialize in skin. You saw in Kevin what Kevin saw in you: That what's inside isn't just surface deep, but also the vast ocean underneath. The skin came first with your Sadie Hawkin's choice to try him out on Bumble. The ocean you dove into after is what let you let Kevin into yours.

You both took risks on each other, and have chosen this place to symbolize how awe-inspiring and worthwhile those risks were.

From the moment you matched on Bumble, and even though Gab thought she was swiping right on GrubHub, you've filled your lives with 7 years of memories together. The easy ones that you tell your coworkers about, and the more important, hard ones that helped to forge the strong bond you've grown to share.

Vows

Now, you’re about to make promises to each other that you intend to keep. You’re going to vow to take care of each other, to stand up for one another, and find happiness in the other. And there's a simple premise to each of these promises: you're vowing to be there. You’re teaming up and saying to the other, “Every experience I’ll have, I want you to be a part of it.”

You fell in love by chance, but you're here today because what started as a swipe you’re making into a sacred choice. You’re both choosing each other. You’ve chosen to be with someone who enhances you, who makes you think, makes you smile. Someone who balances you.

You’ve been making these choices for years and today you’re saying, 'yep, I’m going to keep dreaming with you so we live forever in the present, not the past.'

And to really drive this home, you’ve both prepared personal vows for each other.

Now, Kevin, if you’d read your vows to Gabriella.

Gabriella,

From the moment we swiped right in Bumble, my life has been filled with more joy, amusement, and unpredictability, than I’ve ever thought possible. You’ve brought so much of what I never felt I needed, and I am forever grateful. You are the ying to my yang.

Standing here in Yosemite, I am reminded of the beauty of nature and how it mirrors the beauty I see in you every day, Our engagement in Italy was unforgettable, and now, as we elope in this unbelievable place, I promise to cherish and adore you for the rest of my life.

I vow to always have your back, to support you in every endeavor, and to love you unconditionally. I promise to prioritize our health and well-being, to stay strong for you, and to make most days with you an adventure.

You are my best friend, my confidante, and the love of my life. Together, with steed by our side, we are a family. I look forward to a time of laughter, love, and a bit of chaos in our journey through life.

I love you Gab, with all my heart, and I can’t wait to spend forever with you.

That was great Kev. Now Gabbi, if you'd please share your vows with Kevin.

Kevin,

Hard to believe we finally made it here today to our elopement with no one else here but us.

The past 7 years have been quite the journey. We have learned so much about each other and have grown immensely both individually and our love for one another. I want nothing more than to continue to grow old with you as we embark on this life together until the very end with Steed by our side.

I promise to love and honor you forever.

I promise to support you and remain loyal to you through all of life’s endeavors and challenges that we will face.

I promise and will strive to keep our home full of warmth, laughter and love so that we can build and cherish the best environment for our children and Steed.

I promise to date you continuously and keep the spontaneity alive.

I promise to make you feel loved and cared for everyday of our lives even throughout life’s toughest and challenging times.

I want you to know that no matter what comes our way, I will always choose you.

The growth that you and I have had over the years has been implausible.

I have seen you mature and withstand so much since we have been together, and I promise to continue to follow suite as we grow old together.

A few moments that will remember and cherish are when I was in PA school, before we were dating, you’d call me every single day to check in on me, despite us being miles away. I will never forget the time I was stuck inside of a parking garage because I didn’t have any money to get out, or the time I ran out of money for food, you would Cash App me immediately so that I could get out and just get by on barely a dollar.

Despite yourself not having enough at the time to give to others, you were always willing to give me whatever I needed.

The best memory I have with you is bringing Steed home for the first time at the pet store, you were annoyed of a little cat running around and would never dare consider yourself a cat person growing up, but slowly your bond with Steed grew into something so great and now he is part of our family and plays a special role in our relationship both as a family member and emotional support kitty. Watching you care for him has demonstrated how great of a Dad I know you will be in the future.

Throughout our toughest moments and triumphs, I wouldn’t want to share this life with anyone else. I’m excited for our future together and still can’t believe the life we have built so far.

I can’t wait to soon be in our beautiful new house with Steed, making breakfast together, sitting on our new front porch, and enjoying the life we are building together.

Kevin, I want you to know that I promise to walk beside you through all of life’s adventures and toughest times. With you, I’ve found my home, my love, and my best friend. I will love you, cherish you, and stand by you from this day forward and for eternity, forever and always.

Commitment

Beautiful Gab. Now, we've all said a lot of words, me more than you, but words are just words... most of the time. We say words all the time. To ourselves. To each other. To a higher power.

These words, though, these words carry weight.

A weight divined in this moment, because the promises you’ve made give these words their power, because you name them as pieces of yourself that you give to the other, and as we know, naming something, giving it identity, is one of the most powerful things we can do.

Kevin, if you’d look at Gabbi's deep ocean eyes and repeat after me.

Gabbi, I give you my love… [Kevin repeats]

As I give to you all that I am… [Kevin repeats]

And accept from you all that you are… [Kevin repeats]

And now Gabbi, if you’d look at Kevin's deep ocean eyes, and repeat after me.

Kevin, I give you my love... [Gabbi repeats]

As I give to you all that I am… [Gabbi repeats]

And accept from you all that you are, even your golfing addiction… [Gabbi repeats]

Declaration

Gabriella and Kevin. Charleton and Melissa. Flying spaghetti monster or Chinese spy balloon in the sky. By the power vested in me by your extortionary Yosemite commitment of ceremony permit and the American Marriage Ministry, I pronounce you wife and husband. You may now kiss each other.

[Kevin and Gabriella kiss]

Pronouncement

And now, for the very first time, on this beautiful day in the beautiful place, I’m tickled to present to you, well, just you for the moment… Mr. Kevin and Gabriella Gryzmkowski.

Here's to a new memory, that like all others, isn't for the past, but to be remembered for the future. Now spend your first few as a married couple doing magazine cover poses to this breathtaking backdrop and some singular camera shutter sounds.

[Photographer captures the moment]