This is the story of 2 pharmacists, 2 apps, 2 false starts, 2 celebrations, a purple vase, and 1 meant-to-be couple.

It was 2019 and Josh was living in Atlanta working as a pharmacy professor. Kelly had recently moved to Chapel Hill having finished his first year of residency in pharmacy, following a career as a professional ballet dancer. 

That summer, Josh was in Chapel Hill for a training program and “completely single, I apparently opened Tinder!” he said laughing. Also, apparently, he’d not reopened the app until weeks later when he was back in Atlanta, to see he’d matched with Kelly who thought Josh was still in North Carolina. “Oh well…” they both felt - given that neither wanted a long-distance thing, despite feeling there might be something between the two.

But December would find them both in Las Vegas for a pharmacy conference where they connected again.  Having ensured there was chemistry between them (hard not to riff on that point given their professions), they spent time together in and out of the conference schedule. Josh even texted his best friend to say: “I’ve met the love of my life!” But given they lived in different cities and at different stages of their career, Josh further texted: “So it sucks because it will likely never work out.”  Meanwhile, Kelly boasted to his friends about having a “conference boyfriend!”

Regardless, the two decided to go on an “official first date” on Valentine’s Day, 2020, after Kelly completed a portion of his residency research project in Ethiopia during January. The sparks were meaningful, but Kelly recently accepted a job in his hometown in Kansas City, and Josh was not ready to leave his professorship.  So, the two agreed this would be the end. “I am the kind of person who has to cut someone off entirely, especially if I’ve had strong feelings for them,” Josh said. And so, the two parted ways, again – with Josh having no plan to reconnect.

Until Kelly texted Josh at the start of the pandemic with the thinly veiled excuse of thanking Josh for a purple vase and flowers he’d brought to North Carolina during their last weekend together. Since the country was not yet in lockdown, the two decided to see each other, each agreeing to a “safe phrase” to signal if they weren’t feeling it or wanted to leave early and avoid having to have another “define the relationship talk”. Josh’s phrase was: “thank you for having us (Josh and his dog), but we are going to get goin’.” Kelly’s would be: “thank you for coming for a few days.” Those few days, originally meant to be one week, turned into 13-weeks!

“It was a pressure cooker, living in a tiny 1-bedroom apartment, each of us working from a different corner,” Josh explained. But they had nightly walks around the neighborhood pond and fell in love with each other. “Ours is a total pandemic love story!” In June, Josh resigned from his position in academia and the two moved to Kansas City together in July of 2020 with “a lot of unknowns and a lot of leaps of faith!”

A year later, the two would be engaged. It was decided that Kelly would propose to Josh. The two had their rings designed, so it was only a matter of time. And time passed without Kelly getting on bended knee such that Josh started planning experiences that would be ideal for proposing. “I planned a date night at a jazz club or a day date at a sunflower festival, but nothing.” All Josh asked, however, was that he be “camera ready” when the time came.

Kelly finally bent the knee one night on their evening walk along the river, with Josh in “shorty shorts and a head band!”

Josh immediately started planning the wedding because he likes planning events. So much so that he actually became a nationally certified wedding planner during the process! “We were completely aligned on not wanting a wedding, per se.  So, we decided to plan a few unique celebrations that were meaningful to us.  Our official wedding ceremony was a very intimate event (just five friends) at the historic Kansas City Library downtown—to mark our 3rd anniversary on Valentine’s Day, and then a Celebration of Love a few weeks later at Meadows at Mossy Creek in Cleveland, GA. We didn’t want a ceremony with a walk down the aisle or a wedding party or cake cutting. It was all very unique and personal,” Josh described. “And at our celebration, we had a recording of the intimate ceremony from the library for people to watch on an iPad if they wanted to feel part of that special moment, too!”

For the ceremony, Josh and Kelly turned to Provenance, an online service to help shape their ceremony and prompt writing their vows. “We wanted it to be a queer wedding without being ridiculously cliché and off the rails,” Josh said. “We were looking for ways for our officiant to start the ceremony, shape what we wanted to say to our guests, and our vows, of course.”

Using Provenance’s Ceremony Builder, Vow Builder, and Inspiration Library, Josh and Kelly found the perfect words for their intimate ceremony and celebration. “Off the bat, I felt Provenance was very inclusive with the range of rituals and readings they featured. And, even as a creative person, I felt the prompts pointed me in directions I wouldn’t have thought of myself and made suggestions that made my vows more personal.” And while they didn’t have toasts at their celebration, the two used the Toast Builder to craft a welcome and thank you message to their guests.

After an afternoon of live jazz music, cocktails, passed hors d’oeuvres, and gelato at their Celebration of Love, guests took a short time to relax, recharge, and change into their comfiest clothes for the After Party.  Josh and Kelly wore velour track suits—for a night of dancing, pizza, and beer. “We made our entrance to the After Party to a dance remix version of the White Lotus theme, to give you a sense of the vibe!”

After their weekend festivities in Georgia, the two returned to their newly built home in Kansas to fresh flowers in the purple vase that had reunited the two not that long ago. The purple vase has been filled with flowers ever since their first date.

Credits:

Venue: @meadowsmossycreek
Photography: @hutsonphotoart
Videography: @jeremykhanson
Caterer: @2dogrestaurant, @getfrothyatl, @gatherings30528, @alonsbakery, Atlas Pizza Gainesville
Day-of Coordination: @veilsandvinesdesigns
Concierge: @ellen.gann
DJ: @brickhousedis
Floral: @allinbloomstudio
Jazz Band: City Jazz Company
Audio Guestbook: @fetefone
Photo Booth: @pixilated
Beverage: @tantrumbeer, @sweetwaterbrew, @boulevard_beer, @boxedwater
Favors: @theroasterie