Victoria + Alex by Jessica Perez Photography - Together Journal

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:

We met when we were both 14 — it was the first day of high school gym class. Victoria walked up to Alex during a tag football game because he was the only other person who wasn’t playing. We became instant pals! Yet we always remained just good friends. Victoria used to try and set Alex up with her girlfriends back then, because “Alex was so nice and funny.” Clearly some foreshadowing of what was to come.

We stayed in touch over the next several years as we each navigated other relationships and life changes. This went on all throughout high school and well into college. We even reached out to one other with our own dating problems at times!

It took us awhile, but finally after several years of this friendly dynamic, our conversations were proving to have some undeniable chemistry. Victoria was really focused on her schoolwork at the time, as she was finishing up nursing school in New York City. She knew something was up when she would go to the library to study for her exams. But after a few hours in the library, she’d realize she hadn’t studied at all — instead, she had gotten carried away chatting with Alex on the computer the whole time.

Alex was studying accounting and finance just across the Hudson River, in New Jersey. He would go into the city often for internships or concerts, and generally drop hints to Victoria so that they could meet up since he was in the city. Vicky did not catch any of those hints, but was always happy and comforted knowing Alex was nearby.

What’s really unique about our story is that we went on our first date after seven years of close friendship. We decided to go see a movie in our hometown when we were both visiting home over Christmas break. We were in our early 20s at this point, and each finishing up college. Initially it was strange, to be with someone so familiar who we had known since we were teenagers, but to now see them in a new light and think of the other as a potential partner. After some initial freak outs, it couldn’t have felt more natural to be together romantically instead of platonically. We love the outdoors, live music, trying new beers at a local brewery, and starting our own traditions! From Sunday morning pancakes to nightly crossword puzzles, to throwing an annual pumpkin carving contest with our friends — we have started many special traditions together that we look forward to and have enriched our day to day lives together.

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details:

Alex’s mantra is “Have fun” and Victoria’s mantra is “Keep it simple” and so we tried to tie in the spirit of those words in planning our big day. We disregarded most wedding “rules” (spoiler alert: there are none) or getting caught up in any trends. All of our decisions just boiled down to – does this feel true us? And if it did, we went with it! We both have a similar aesthetic, which made just about every decision – our venue, photographer, flowers, etc. – extremely easy and natural to make. We wanted our wedding to be super intimate, slightly rustic, and very dance-y. And that’s exactly the kind of party it was!

Some favorite details:

For our seating cards, we used vintage postcards that we hand-picked from various antique shops and bookstores over the span of many years. We hand wrote all the seating details on each one for a more thoughtful touch and tried to match our guests with post cards that would be meaningful to them.
The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn, a Brooklyn based jazz band, played blues, and swing music during our cocktail hour which was a major highlight! They were not a random choice either; we moved to Jersey City in 2016 and would go see The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn play at our favorite cocktail bar every Thursday night. Having them come play during our wedding cocktail hour transported us back to those fun nights, and kicked off our reception in the best way.
DJ Ali, our incredible disc jockette, spinning vinyl records all night long! Our dance floor was literally packed for the entire reception — and that’s a testament to her incredible taste in music, and also how fun the people in our lives are.

Tell us about your main outfits:

-Victoria hates dressing up so she thought that picking a dress would be the most stressful decision of the whole event. Luckily, she came across Sarah Seven very early on in her searches, and was pleasantly surprised to see a bridal brand emphasize the chicness of simplicity, and the idea that you should wear a dress you actually feel like yourself in. Victoria picked out her dress before even trying it on.

-Alex loves dressing up. He also loves all things Americana or inspired by The West, which is the epitome of Double RL, Ralph Lauren’s Western inspired collection. Alex has loved this brand for many years and it was no surprise when he picked a suite from their collection. Alex picked a dark navy suit to contrast his platinum blonde hair. It was one of the easiest wedding decisions Alex made.

–What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:

– Just about everyone we knew who had already gotten married warned us that something would inevitably go wrong at our wedding. All day, we waited for that “thing” to happen and honestly – it never came. Everything went just as we imagined, without hiccup. It was so perfect, it has gotten to the point where we now joke that there are Wedding Gods, and we must have done something to make them very happy. Our wedding was in November of 2019 and what followed just a few months later with the start of the pandemic has filled us with more gratitude than ever that we were able to have this special day with our friends and family. Now looking back, we ended the year of 2019 with our wedding and then came a year that was stripped of big parties, packed dance floors, and group hugs – and so our wedding day now almost feels like it was a dream from the “before times” or a send-off for all of us before we faced the incredibly difficult year of 2020. We danced arm in arm with our closest friends and family all night long, and so of course that was incomparably the best memory of the night.

– Our wedding ceremony was also wonderful. Officiated by Victoria’s brother-in-law, we read a standard script of vows to each other in front of our closest friends and family. But we always knew that we wanted to exchange our personal vows to one another in private. And so, before the actual ceremony took place, just the two of us found ourselves standing in a meadow surrounded by the breathtaking Catskills, reading our written vows to one another. Looking back, we couldn’t be happier that we were able to carve out the most important moment of the day in this intimate and special way for just us.

-Alex is pretty shy, and Victoria has two left feet. But somehow we managed to put together our own little dance routine for our first song. We didn’t take any lessons — instead, we practiced the routine in our kitchen every single night for months leading up to the wedding. We can’t say we did it perfectly, but pretty close! Even now, from time to time, one of us will put on our song, and we recreate the dance routine in our kitchen.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:

Enjoy the journey! Four months before our wedding day, we stayed up late one night talking about a mutual wanting for a new adventure, something more conducive to the outdoorsy lifestyle we both were seeking. Within a few weeks, we ended our apartment lease, packed away all our belongings, Victoria quit her job, and we drove across country to start a new chapter in Colorado. People were not shy at the time, and let us know that what we were doing was foolish, especially timing wise with the wedding being so soon. But we both believe that if you want to do something, the time is now! We have been through so much in our 8 years together, and have built an incredible bond after making it through what we have. Even when we make a plan that seems a little crazy (which is often), or when we come across a new obstacle, we both are always comforted in knowing we have the other person by our side and we never have to tackle anything alone. The possibilities are endless and there is nothing to be afraid of when your partner supports and believes in you and your relationship, when you have a vision that you work towards and build together, and when you don’t take each other for granted. It won’t be perfect but it will always be worth it.

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